Spell Bound
by Nighthill
Summary: Fake jewels always shine brighter than the real ones. Are feelings like that also?  He never cares about anything, and I hate his ultra-cool attitude. Yet, with one small confession, my heart beats for him - against my will! Is he playing around with me? How do I know his feelings are real, when he acts as if he's  ... spellbound.
1. How She Felt

**Disclaimers: If Square claims anything, it's theirs. The OCs are all mine though**.

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><p>Okay, I know I should be writing Last Day, but I just have to write this idea down. Last Day's next chapter is at my beta though. It should come out soon ... maybe.<p>

Well, no alternate summary for this story yet; I can't think of one. The summary outside should be good for now. On with the story.

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><p><strong>Prologue: How She Felt<strong>

She felt curious.

He was very mysterious. His short, unruly brown hair made her want to try touching it, but she had enough decency to not do it to a total stranger. He also had beautiful eyes. The sharp look that exuded from his icy blue lenses impressed her greatly. She would like to stare at those orbs and observe every crystallized hue they had to offer, if only he would allow it.

He was always there, in the corner of the class, shutting himself from the whole world. For her eight-years-old mind, she couldn't understand for the life of her why he acted like that. While other kids laughed and played together so happily, the boy just brooded in that little corner of his. He was off in his own world, looking out of the window with an expression reminiscent of her daddy when he was thinking. At the beginning, many of her friends had tried talking to him and never got even a glance in return. He was quickly thrown into oblivion by the whole class. It wasn't like that to her, though.

She still looked at him from time to time, occasionally spoke to him even when the reply was always silence. And she was still curious.

"Why don't you join me?" She asked.

"Stay away from me." He replied harshly.

It only intrigued her more. She found out about his house by secretly following him. He lived with a woman with long black hair and a girl whom she assumed was his sister. When the school year ended, she found out that he and his sister moved away, and she became good friends with the motherly woman who had stayed behind. She was told that his parents wanted him and his sister back.

Five years went by and the little boy drifted to the back of her mind. Her only reminder of him was the contact she still kept with his old guardian. One year later, she said goodbye to the gentle woman, to her hometown and moved across the sea with her dad.

At her new school, she saw him again. He was still the loner he had been before, but with some differences. He was a loner, who was in the center of attentions all the time. The girls found him cute, the guys found him cool and the teachers found him reliable. He did grow up to be very handsome guy, handsome and smart. He had a strange choice of friends, though. He befriended a guy who was the very opposite of him. The guy, good-looking he might be, was a jerk, always causing troubles and was avoided by the whole school.

They were always together at the back of the class. He still looked blankly through the window while his friend pissed off random classmates passing by. She also noticed their similar scars and was told that they inflicted those on each other. Why would they be friends if they had scarred each other? Must be a boys' thing, she'd never understand.

She felt nervous.

The class needed to collect money for the year's project, everyone had contributed, everyone except those two. No one had the courage to speak to them, and it somehow became her responsibility to do so. She had no problem with him as she had attempted conversation with him before, when his friend wasn't around. It was his friend, though. She saw a dangerous glint in the guy's eyes when the money was handed to her.

She felt scared.

The next day, she found herself behind the school, pinned to the ground by his friend. She had never been that frightened before. He just stood and watched, unamused by the event. His friend threatened and forced her into being their slave. She really did become their so-called slave, mostly for his friend. She was told to do the guy's homework, to give him massages, to go and fetch stuffs for him, to do stupid things that were invented on the spot just to make her life miserable.

Of course she fought back, but it was all in vain because she was still afraid of what the guy could actually do. At least the guy had the decency to not order her around in public, so she hid the fact from her friends and family. He himself never did anything to her though, but still …

She felt anger.

She hated not only his friend but him also. Why didn't he do anything to help her? Sure, she knew he couldn't care less, but shouldn't he at least say something about this? When she was being mistreated by his friend, why did he act as if it was the most natural thing in the world? Why didn't he care? A part of her was disappointed.

That year passed with her constantly running after him and his friend to clean up their behind. She soon was deemed as one of them and was avoided by her former friends. She was left with only them to keep her company at school, and they obviously weren't the best of companions. Two years later, they all graduated and entered high school. At the end of the first semester, they, her _and_ the two jerks, suddenly made new friends. They were people who accepted them as they were, and she was happy. She was still secretly their slave though, and the new friends had no idea.

He opened up a little more that year, and she got into talking terms with him, they became friends. He would cut in when that guy bullied her, but only when it was getting out of hand. She had thought it was fine and was content with just that. There was still a certain emotional wall between them, though. While he simply didn't care, she still couldn't forgive him for ignoring her when she had needed help the most.

She felt baffled.

It was during the seventeenth year of her life, something happened. Something big!

"What?" She asked in confusion, pulling back from his grasp. He looked straight into her eyes with utmost sincerity. He seemed to be unsure and lost, yet very serious. His lips parted and uttered the words she had never expected to come from him.

"I love you."

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><p><strong>A<strong>**uthor's Rant: **Tell me, (or don't tell me, but maybe answer it in your head) how many of you thought the girl (yes, Rinoa) was being raped, or at least sexually harassed?

I mean, I only realized when I went back to reread it ... "pinned to the ground". Heh, I fooled even myself.

Anyway, do math people. They were all thirteen, not much hormones there. And I wouldn't do that to our favorite heroine now, would I? I'll let her, even _make _her keep it for Squall. lol

I sure hope this story turns out to be as humorous as the genre said. I'll try my best to keep it funny, but don't expect slapstick because that's just not me.

I'm still wondering if I should have silly conversations with characters like in Last Day.

**I need a beta though, anyone? No one is fine, but, anyone?**


	2. New Turn in the Road

**Chapter I: New Turn in the Road**

It was a nice September day. She had just gotten back from her summer vacation the week before, and now she was walking towards her school, Balamb Garden. She dreaded every step on the way. Her favorite backpack felt heavy on her shoulders, and the medium sized suitcase she was dragging behind her was making the feeling worse. Sure, she was looking forward to meeting her friends again. But one guy in her group of friends just happened to be her bully, she was never comfortable around him.

Her heavy paces suddenly stopped. She stooped down, hugging her dark-blue backpack and ensconcing herself _in_ _the middle _of a crowded pavement. She may have looked like some sort of emo girl, but she didn't care. She ignored the prying looks from the pedestrians and concentrated very hard. She was mentally training. This was it, this year would be different. Seventeen was her lucky number. She would seriously fight back because she believed nothing could harm her now. She trusted that he would interfere if things ever got to crucial.

'_Today, I, Rinoa Heartilly, will break free of my slavery chains!'_ She shouted in her mind and shot up to a standing position, earning a few gasps from people around her. The girl, now renewed, look straight to her destination from afar with determination. After a deep breath, she crossed the street slowly but surely and felt as if she could take on the world. She had a sense of fulfillment that excited her, and she wanted so bad to face her dilemma right now. Rinoa threw he backpack over shoulder and strode proudly to her school. Her eyes swept by a public clock and widened hysterically. The raven-haired girl broke into a desperate run because she realized she was late for her new year roll-call.

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><p>The students of class 11A were all lined up in front of their new classroom. Everyone was comfortable with one another because the Garden didn't mix up the classes for the new year like other schools did. A group of friends stood together at the back of the lines, their outer appearances reflected their personalities, which were quite diversified. It was a wonder how they all got together in the first place. The group consisted of six blondes and brunettes, and was divided evenly.<p>

The first blond guy had spiky hair that defied gravity. His presence stuck out like a sore thumb as he had a vivid tattoo on the side of his face. He couldn't seem to stand still and kept shadowboxing in the line. The other one, instead of using gel to make his hair stand up like his friend did, he combed it back nice and slick. A long scar ran across the bridge of his nose, making his appearance all the more intimidating. He stood sleazily, throwing challenging looks at random kids who wasn't in his group.

The final blonde was a mature-looking girl who could've passed as a young teacher. She wore a pair of glasses that hid her clear blue irises. Her long hair only served to elevate her refined beauty. She would have been the objective for drooling males, but the scarred blond prevented that.

As for the brunettes, their hair colors varied slightly. The most noticeable was a cheery girl with shoulder-length hair that curved up oddly at the end. She was slightly reminiscent of the spiky-haired blond as she bounced in place. Next to her was a suave guy with long chestnut-colored hair, which was tied into a ponytail. He wore a cowboy hat and kept touching it every time he threw winks at girls.

Last but not least, a guy with shaggy dark-brown hair that fell down and hid the telltale scar on his forehead. He silently stood as if to erase his own existence, but that goal could never be achieved since girls were constantly swooning over him from afar. The only reason they hadn't approached him yet was because of the scowl that sat permanently on his face, and of course because of the group he had besides him.

"Hey, guys." The perky brunette girl whispered lest their teacher hear her, looking around expectantly. "Where's she?"

"She who?" The cowboy was the first to reply, although he was still busy flirting with other girls. "Make it clear, Selphie dear."

"Irvine, that was a really bad rhyme!" Selphie rebuked softly. "And what do you mean, she who? Who _else_?"

"Maybe she transferred or something." The spiky blonde suggested before Irvine could reply.

"Of course not. Say something smart for a change, Chickenwuss." The vulgar blonde drawled. "Where would she transfer to? Her family is still up there on the hill and this is the only high school here. Maybe if you stop swatting flies for a moment, you brain might have more capacity to think."

"Zell, you know him, ignore the jerk." The blonde girl intercepted as she saw her friend shaking with anger. "And Seifer, that's not very nice."

"Oops, I guess we delinquents just don't do nice." Seifer shot back arrogantly. "Quistis, it's a new year, the perfect time to change sides. The preppy will always open their arms for you."

"I don't remember our group being some delinquent posse. In fact, you're the _only _delinquent here." Quistis deflected smartly. "Don't sum us up together using 'we'. _You_, sir, are welcome to leave this Nicety group anytime."

"Good one, Quisty." Zell chuckled, only to receive a glare from Seifer.

"Squall, any idea?" Selphie asked the silent brunette. Everyone looked at him in anticipation, waiting for him to say something. He just remained still, but then slowly looked to his right.

"She's here." He spoke up for the first time, and everyone turned to follow his gaze to see a raven-haired girl hesitating at the end of the hallway. She was sneaking up to the class, hoping the teacher wouldn't notice. She had missed the school bell when she went to her dorm to drop off her things first, and now she was late. The girl continuously signaled to her friends to keep an eye on the teacher, but was misinterpreted and received many waves back. She mentally slapped her face in frustration.

Unfortunately for her, the teacher picked up on her group's activities and cleared his throat. "Ms. Heartilly, that's minus two for behavior."

Rinoa flinched at the sound of her name being called and let out a dispirited sigh as she dragged herself to join her circle of friends. "Thanks a lot, guys." She said in mock anger. She then noticed who the teacher was and became very happy instead of worried. It was Mr. Night. He kind of dotted on her, he probably only said that to let her know she didn't have to play spy anymore. But her friends didn't know that.

"Aw, we're sorry, Rinny." Selphie chimed apologetically. "Right, everyone?"

They all nodded or let out agreeing hums, except for Seifer, who seemed to be smirking at her hardship, and Squall, who couldn't care less. It ignited anger inside her. Those two, those jerks were the very core of her every misery. Why couldn't they ever be nice to her? Even if it was just a little bit. Her determination to break the slavery chains, which had been extinguished the moment she found out she was late, was revived, and she looked at her bully with defiance. She was annoyed that there wasn't much reaction from Seifer and stomped at the ground, earning questioning glances from her friends.

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><p>After the roll-call, they all went inside their new classroom. Everyone had already settled down and was prepared to hear their teacher lecture about how this new year would be, or how an 11th grader should be. Oh, but, there was always an exception to everything, and right now, that exception was Seifer. He was sitting on the table behind his seat, resting his legs across his own table. He was nearly three feet taller than everybody around him, and the teacher didn't seem to mind at all. Sometimes, she just wished her blond teacher wasn't too lax.<p>

Rinoa was very angry right now. She wasn't pleased with the seating arrangement. Her group sat in the corner, the same as last year, but there somehow were a few tweaks. Squall was at the very corner, that was unchanging. In front of him was Quistis, who sat to Seifer's left. Zell was on Seifer's right, and behind him was Selphie. To Selphie's right was Irvine while Rinoa sat on her left. Now, if you haven't drawn a map in your head and figured it out, she sat behind Seifer. Which meant the table Seifer was sitting on was hers.

She was so sure he had purposely sat there just to ruin her first day. She was considering telling Mr. Night and have him take care of Seifer for her, but decided against it. She would fight him head-on; she didn't need to hide behind someone to win this … even if that would probably be the safest way. No, this was between her and Seifer.

"Seifer!" She said in a hush tone, afraid to disrupt her favorite teacher's speech. "Get your butt off of my table!"

There was no response; he just ignored her like that. She brought a hand up and jabbed at his back. "I'm telling you, get off!"

The blond guy gave her a rude yawn, then turned around and tousled her head violently. "Seifer! You meanie!" She exclaimed softly, running her hands through her messy black locks. That earned her friends' attentions. Zell, Selphie and Irvine simply looked on with interest, Quistis frowned at Seifer disapprovingly while Squall was just being his usual uncaring self. Apart from Squall who knew what actually happened, the others had always thought that the bickering between her and Seifer was a twisted version of playful antics. That was the lie Seifer had fed them when they've just gotten together. Or maybe it was her childish choice of insults that made them think that …

Anyway, she wouldn't back down now. Not this time, not today, not ever again shall he be the only victorious one. She was determined to fight tooth and nail with him.

She took out a paperclip from the stack of paper inside her backpack. With strength she never knew she had before, she quickly bent the harmless-looking clip so that its sharpest tip would point out. _'Okay, you ignored my jabbing, let's see how you fare with my stabbing.'_ Rinoa thought evilly, holding out the piece of metal towards Seifer's back. Her friends' eyes widened at her, this was her first time officially getting back at the guy after all.

Seifer, still oblivious to his endangered back, was snickering at something their teacher had said. The sound of his voice only made her angrier, and she drove the clip into his back. His laughter was cut short and replaced with a painful yell as he ejected from her table and fell onto the ground. The whole class went silent, staring at the blonde, who was producing a string of curses.

Seifer stood up, rubbing his the small hole that now existed in his back. He was swiftly confused, but there was only one person who could've pricked him with … whatever it was. "What the hell, Heartilly!" He snarled at her. His fuming figure loomed over her, and she felt like a helpless rabbit. So much for bravado.

Rinoa felt herself diminishing under his fierce glare. She smiled stupidly at him, and quickly discarded of the evidential _weapon_. _'Oh my Hyne. Squall? Now's a good time for you to step in.' _She glanced at the brunette to her left, who was … sleeping. She could've slapped herself. The guy was burying his head into his arms on the table, completely unconcerned about what was happening. _'Talk about bad timing.'_ She brought her attention back to her the furious blonde in front of her.

Seifer opened his mouth, about to say something when Mr. Night interrupted him.

"Mr. Almasy, is there a problem?" All eyes then turned back to the young teacher standing crossed arms.

Rinoa let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, she had forgotten that she was still in class, with her teacher and friends in presence. Seifer wouldn't dare do anything to her, not just yet. She paled at the thought.

"She fucking …" Seifer pointed at her but then stopped. He seemed to be thinking. Then, he shook his head and bent down to pick up his chair, which had been tipped over by his fall. As he sat down on his true seat, the guy shot her a look. She could've sworn she saw a dreadfully familiar dangerous glint in his gaze. It seemed she would have to take care not to wander around alone for a while. She faintly heard Seifer's muttering under his breath something like, _Just you wait_. She would have to avoid straying from her friends for a _long _while.

She couldn't see his face but judging from her classmates, friends excluded, he was pretty ticked off. They were all wary, occasionally stole glances at the delinquent as if he could transform into a T-Rexaur anytime and start slaughtering everyone.

"I'm still waiting, Mr. Almasy." Her teacher didn't relent. The man was lax, but even he had some harshness towards the crude blonde.

"It's nothing, _sir_." Seifer answered through gritted teeth.

"Very well." The teacher unfolded his arms and looked down to his handbook. When she thought it was over, Mr. Night continued. "The only reason I let you be is because this is not actually a lesson. In the future, do mind where you sit. You can lie sprawled on the ground for all I care, just don't disturb others. Clear?"

"Yeah, yeah." Seifer waved his hand dismissively.

Thank Hyne that Seifer didn't have eyes behind his back. He would definitely make her miserable for the rest of her life if he had seen the grin plastered on her face. For the first time in four years, she could smile triumphantly after being bullied. Mr. Night had no idea how much he had went up in her pyramid of acquaintances, and he had already been in a high enough position before.

She looked around and received surprised yet amused glances from her friends. Zell grinned as they met eyes and gave her a double thumbs-up. He must be jumping with joy inside. Aside from her, he was the only one Seifer bullied, albeit more openly. But his smile quickly faltered the moment Seifer turned to him, most likely was giving him a death glare. The guy held out his middle finger to Zell, and Quistis reached out to smack him behind his head. He spun around to the blond girl and gave her a gesture saying _What did I do?_

Then, Quistis looked at her and nodded as if saying _Someone has to shove it back in his _face. Selphie was smiling. The chirpy girl whispered _You go girl_ to her while Irvine held out his hand in the shape of a gun. The cowboy closed one of his eyes, took aim at Seifer and mouthed _Bang._ She had to slap a hand to her mouth to avoid laughing out loud and add to her list of blasphemy to Seifer.

The rest of the lecture proceeded quite peacefully with Mr. Night establishing things everyone had already known. He had to because he said it was mandatory. It was so boring that even she collapsed. Upon resting her face down on her table, she suddenly remembered that Seifer's butt had been there and snapped back into sitting straight, wiping her cheek repeatedly.

The class had quite a torpid atmosphere hanging around, almost every guy ignored Mr. Night, but the girls only ignored his _speech_. They were all sighing dreamily at the young teacher. He was very good-looking and was classified in Squall's caliber. She heard that Mr. Night was the school's absolute idol until Squall entered the school and divided the attention. Anyway, to Rinoa, he was like a trustworthy brother; composed, taciturn but kind and intelligent.

Some whispering floated to her ears, and she tuned to see that Seifer was busy flirting with Quistis. The blond girl seemed to like it, though. Rinoa didn't understand how someone as beautiful and dignified as Quistis could find interest in a jerk like Seifer. What did she see in him anyway?

As for Selphie, she was deeply engaged in some silly banter with Irvine and kept giggling nonstop. Zell was doodling on a piece of paper. When he finished, the blond teen held up his _masterpiece _in glee of completion. Rinoa could've sworn she saw a picture of a dog sweating under the blazing sun. Next to her, Squall was still asleep. Lucky him. She couldn't even if she wanted to, not until she had her table disinfected.

Nearing the end, the blond teacher announced something that got the class truly interested. To celebrate the start of a new year, the school had organized a two-day trip to Dollet for the student body. It was even free for students who lived in the dorms. She'd never been to Dollet before, so she would definitely go.

"All standard rules applied," Mr. Night said loudly, throwing his handbook onto the table. He seemed to be really sick of reading from the thing. "That means no alcohol, no cigarettes, but if you keep it down to a certain limit, I'll see what I can do."

There was a lot of cheering from the students; the teacher was obviously loved by them. The class excitedly shared their opinions on the subject, it was impossible to hear anything the blond teacher said.

"No weapons, that's the only thing I won't tolerate." Mr. Night cleared his throat, gaining his desired silence, and continued. "Understand, Mr. Almasy? And just in case, Leonhart too, but I doubt he cares."

Seifer rapped his fingers angrily on the side of his table, but said nothing. Was he thinking of bringing his gunblade along or something? And Squall, well, he was still sleeping, so yeah, he didn't care.

"As for curfew, it's before nine. Cease all outside activities when the time comes, because I am _not_ responsible for peripheral patrols. Keep anything wild inside your rooms and it should be fine. I'll overlook it if I _think_ it hadn't gotten out of hand."

Everyone chuckled in agreement; Mr. Night was definitely the best teacher they could ever get.

The school bell went off, telling them that the period was over. The students got up and were about to leave when the teacher raised his hand to stop them. And they all sat down without objection, with the exception being Seifer again, but Quistis had quickly pulled him down. One thing Mr. Night had but other teachers didn't that was absolute obedience from the students. He pointed to a stack of paper on his desk and told them to get one piece for each when leaving, as it had the information they would need about the trip.

"You have the rest of the day and tomorrow free to settle into the dorms and prepare for the trip. Those who want to participate …" There were rows of arms raised, telling him they all wanted to go. The blonde just continued, stepping to a side, knowing that there would be a wave of eager teenagers come crashing at his desk. "Come find me in the faculty room _tomorrow_. Dismissed!"

True enough, the poor desk was immediately tackled by the students who wanted the leaflets. It was pure chaos. She noticed Mr. Night shaking his head while massaging the bridge of his nose in a corner away from the crowd. She took note to help him clean up afterwards.

When the rest of the class was done with the hustling, Rinoa's group was still sitting. And as the last student left through the doors, Selphie pranced up from her seat and bounced her way to the desk. The perky brunette simply picked up a leaflet from a pile of it lying on the floor and trotted back to the group. See how easy that was? Rinoa didn't understand why people have to push, since there was practically more than enough for everybody.

Rinoa got up and walked towards Mr. Night, offering to help him. She readjusted the desk and threw away the leftover leaflets. The teacher smiled faintly and tousled her hair; his hand was gentle, unlike _somebody_.

"When you get out, remember to lock the doors, okay?" Mr. Night told her the code before leaving. She nodded to him, mumbling the code over and over so that she wouldn't forget it, and went back to her friends. Everyone was waiting for her with beaming smiles, again with the exception of Seifer … and Squall, who was still sleeping all this time. She didn't really mind, she was feeling pretty good after exchanging words with Mr. Night.

"Why bother helping him anyway, it's just some trash and a tilted desk." Seifer drawled, destroying her good mood. She frowned at him, but was ignored. Rinoa crossed her arms and humphed sulkily as she flopped down on her chair. _'Hello, if you don't remember, it's thanks to me that we get to stay in the class for as long as we like!'_

"Seifer, stop being so mean to her! It's nice that she's so considerate." Quistis smacked him again, and he just took it without a word. _'Why can't I hit him like that, too?'_ Rinoa put a finger to her pouting lips as she envyingly looked at the exchange of words between the two blondes.

"Guys, it says that the fee is two thousand gil per student." Selphie read from the leaflet. She was sitting on her table, dangling her feet. "Good thing we're all dormies, huh?"

"Uhm, our little Rinny commutes from home if you haven't forgotten." Irvine said as he took a seat next to Selphie on the table. The cowboy draped his arm around the petite girl's waist.

"Oops, sorry Rinny." Selphie gasped, unconcerned by the foreign hand resting on her hip. "But you'll go right? Two thousand gils isn't that much, if you think about it."

"Yeah, that much money is no prob for your family, right?" Zell input his thought.

"That was rude, Zell." Quistis reprimanded him for his careless tongue. And the spiky blonde hastily apologized.

They all knew Rinoa's father had once been the famous General Fury Caraway. Although he had retired now, his wealth was enough to buy off the whole continent if needed. Rinoa had tried really hard to cover it up, but Seifer just had to open his big mouth and tell everyone in the group. She was sure he had done that to make her friends avoid her. Thank Hyne, it had backfired and strengthened their friendship.

"Don't worry, Zell." Rinoa assured him. "I know you mean well. And I have something to tell you guys." She halted for the effect as the group stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. She stood up straight, cleared her throat and saluted them military style. "This year, due to some circumstances, I officially move into the dorms. Please be kind to me." Just a side note, that wasn't directed to Seifer.

Her friends stayed listless, staring at her. And she suddenly felt the need to go hide somewhere. What were these looks that they were giving her? Was she not that welcomed like she thought she was?

"Great," Seifer broke the silence, throwing his hands into the air in mock excitement. "Now I'll get to see your face even after school out. Just what I wanted."

Rinoa cringed at his harsh words. She felt like crying, and the corner of her eyes were starting to sting. She quickly hung her head to hide her eyes. She needed to get out fast before she started bawling in front of her friends.

"Seifer!" Quistis said with menace. It consoled Rinoa a bit; at least someone cared.

Suddenly, Selphie let out a squealed. Rinoa was still bewildered when the hyper teen hopped down from her table and tackled the raven-haired into a tight hug that threatened to squeeze the life out of her. Seifer let out a groan, wiping his face and turned away, while Quistis smiled at her. She looked at Zell to see that the blonde was pumping his fists into the air joyously.

"Uh, what?" She tried to detach herself from Selphie's firm grip, only to be squeezed harder. She quickly gave up after that and stayed inside her friend's arms. It was a wonder how a small girl like Selphie could possess so much strength.

As she saw Irvine approaching them with a sly smirk, she eyed him suspiciously. "Irvine …" She started, but was cut short by her own yelp as the cowboy stretched out his arms and enfolded both her and Selphie.

"Aw, how cute." He said coyly, snuggling at Selphie's cheek. "Let me share the love."

"Irvine Kinneas," Selphie wriggled under his arms fiercely. "Let go this instance!"

Irvine only tightened his embrace, inducing a chain of high-pitched complaints from the petite brunette. At the sight, Seifer started smirking with amusement, nudging at Quistis for alliance. He succeeded alright; the blonde was trying to hide her smile. Zell laughed out heartily, so much that he staggered and knocked a few chairs over. They fell and created irritatingly loud clangs.

Amidst the clutter, a lone grumble was heard and everybody froze to look at the brunette, who had been unresponsive up until now. His body frame stirred and he lifted his head out of his folded arms, looking around groggily with a scowl. He brought a hand up to wipe his face while flexing his muscles. When he dropped his arms down to his sides, he became aware of the surrounding and his frown deepened noticeably. As the groups of friends remained still, afraid that they had awoken a sleeping lion, Squall brushed back some of his bang that was falling in front of his eyes.

"You guys are too noisy." He mumbled; his eyes were bloodshot and a bit diluted. They all let go of their breaths. So Squall was a peaceful waker; no one had had the nerves to try waking him up before so this was news to them.

"Exactly, man." Seifer said dramatically. "I've been trying to tell them that."

"Shut up, Seifer. Hey, Squall. Welcome back." Selphie greeted the brunette, still refusing to let go of Rinoa. "We were just talking about the new year trip. It's free for us dormies. And guess what, Rinny _is_ a dormy!"

Squall raised an eyebrow as if saying _So? How does that concern me?_

"Um, what's so great about being a dormy, apart from not commuting from home anymore and get to hang out with you guys after school out?" Rinoa squeaked questioningly, still stuck in Selphie and Irvine's hug. She wondered why wasn't anyone bothered by this awkward position the trio was in. Especially Squall. Being someone who had no idea of the events that had led up to their current position, shouldn't he raise a question or two?

"What! You're kidding. You seriously don't know? Dormitory life rocks. It's so free and wild." Selphie unfolded her arms and waved them around enthusiastically, maybe deliberately smacking Irvine in the process. "We're _really_ glad you could join us in _everything _now. We have _so_ much to show you."

"Really?" The raven-haired girl blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Wait, I thought I heard people say that the security is very tight."

"It is tight. But we're in the A wing!" Selphie exclaimed, jumping up and down, making it difficult for Irvine to hold her. After a bit, the cowboy gave in and retracted his arms. He sighed heavily and sat down on a nearby chair. Completely oblivious to the guy's disappointment, Selphie continued. "Ciel is really nice. She even encourages us to hold parties. We're so lucky. She said that she'd cover us up if things don't get out of hands, and that we couldn't tell outsiders lest they get jealous and decide to be party crashers. She's just like a female version of Mr. Night, but more cheerful and open. Anyways, whichever wing you're in, Rinny, you can always come to A and par-tey with us."

Rinoa needed some time to fully grasp what her friend had just said. Was there really a female teacher that was just like Mr. Night? She then looked at the others for confirmation. Squall was gazing at some nonexistence thing in front of him, clearly not in the conversation at all. Zell and Irvine nodded eagerly, as if they were afraid she would shy away or something. Seifer, well, she didn't _look_ at him, he just happened to be in her peripheral vision when she eyed Quistis. The blond jerk grimaced at her in his boredom, but Rinoa ignored him for now.

"Yeah, Selphie pretty much said everything." Quistis shrugged. She didn't seem to be very interested in the partying. But Rinoa did. She had been prepared to face with a strict framed life in the dorms, but it turned out to be very lax. There was no description to how relief she was.

"Okay, I guess it doesn't hurt to break a few minor rules." Rinoa finally found her giggles.

"Then, which wing are you in?" Selphie asked, taking out a pen and the map of the Garden. "Let me know so that I can plan your escape routes."

"F." Rinoa answered simply and waited to see her friend draw out the plan. All she got was silence. _'Not again.'_ The black-haired girl thought. Why were her friends stunned this time?

"Great!" Seifer was the first to exclaim, not even hiding his annoyance anymore. "Just great, dear Hyne. Now I get to see her in the night too."

"Er, what?" She blurted out. This was pretty confusing. Why would he see her during the night?

"Rinoa, are you sure?" Quistis asked her, and she replied _Yes_. The blonde nodded meditatively and pushed at her glasses. It left Rinoa very puzzled, scratching the back of her head. Was there something wrong with the F wing?

'_Don't tell me … Seifer is in there? Does F stand for failure?' _She panicked as theories and explanations swirled in her little mind. Her eyes darted around to find assurance from her friends. Hoping that someone would say there was nothing wrong with the wing. _'Does that mean F wing is actually a place that houses delinquents? How am I gonna fit in a place like that? How am I even gonna **survive**? Oh Hyne, please, just this once, let my theories be wrong.'_

"Is there something wrong with F wing?" She voiced her concerns.

"Weird." Selphie poked at her lower lip with the tip of the pen, furrowing her brows.

"Um, Rinny?" Irvine interjected, getting her attention. "I'm in the F wing."

"You, too?" She asked, feeling slightly relief. At least she had someone she knew, other than Seifer, in there. At least someone would be there if Seifer decided to give her a visit. _'But, hey? Irvine's not a delinquent …'_

"I'm also in there, Rin."

"Zell, too?" Rinoa blinked. _'Zell's not a delinquent, either. And neither am I. Then what is so strange about me being in the F wing?'_

"Yup, and so is Squall." The spiky blond affirmed, pointing at the dozing brunette in the corner. Wait what? She looked at Squall again. He was sitting crossed arms, staring very blankly at the air at his front. It looked somehow very strange. Rinoa took a few steps towards him, triggering her friend's interest also. They all noticed how Squall expression was quite … odd, for a lack of better words.

She tiptoed a few more steps and waved her hands in front of his face. No response. Seifer stood up as well and snapped his fingers next to Squall's ears. No response. Rinoa looked back at her friends, earning clueless shrugs from them. Then she turned back to him, cleared her throat and said softly into his ears.

"Squall, Mr. Night said that he was going to confiscate your Lionheart." And she waited. No response.

"Shit," Seifer burst out laughing. He was cackling so hard that he had to double over. "He's fucking sleeping with his eyes open. Holy fuck … I-I didn't know that … that was even humanly possible. I th-thought it was some shit they made up to make soldiers seem extraordinary." He said between laughs, falling back into his chair. "Fuck, now I've seen everything."

Although his coarse language was hard on the ears, everyone couldn't help but chuckle at the fact. Squall Leonhart, who was capable of the unthinkable, had done it again. _'How does he do that?'_ Rinoa wondered amusedly, giggling together with Selphie. Quistis put a hand to her mouth to hide her lips that was curving upwards, while Zell and Irvine continuously slapped each other's shoulder in their laughter and pointed at Squall.

They all had a good laugh, but quickly shushed each other lest the brunette woke up again. Squall just had no idea how his omnipotence had a humorous side to it.

'_Squall is most **definitely** not a delinquent.'_ Rinoa recovered from the excitement and wiped the tears away from her eyes. _'He's the most trusted student by the teachers, if they trust us students at all. Hm, even if he does have some problems on the communicative side, that isn't a reason to dump him in with delinquents. So in conclusion, F doesn't stand for failure … Then, why is everyone making a bid deal about it?_'

"Okay, guys? Joking aside, I need clearer explanations." She clapped her hands together to get the group's attention. "Just tell me the problem already. Is the teacher in charge of F is a male chauvinist or a pervert or something? Is the wing rigged with bugs and the like? Water shortage/leakage? Ghosts? Murders? Anything? Stop beating around the bush already."

"Uhm, F wing is great actually." Irvine answered truthfully, fixing his hat that was tilted after rolling around laughing. "Even better than A. It has the perfect geographical position to hold parties since it's the furthest away from the FR. No bugs, squeaky clean. Water and electricity is like anywhere else. No ghost or corpses as far as I know …"

"Plus," Zell joined in energetically. "Mr. Night is our overseer, that fact's self-explanatory."

"What? Really?" Rinoa eyes lit up at the information; she was jubilated. There was even Mr. Night? Then she had no reason to fear Seifer now. She secretly jumped with joy inside her head. "Then what is it that you guys are hesitating about?"

"It's a boy's dorm." A new voice spoke up behind her. She spun around to face the brunette, who was lying flat on his table. His eyes were barely opened.

"Oh, you're awake, Squall. You scared me." Rinoa exhaled, cupping a hand to her heart. Suddenly, the image of Squall sleeping open-eyed flashed through her mind and she let out a giggle that earned her an annoyed look from him. Her laugh ended right away and she smiled apologetically at him. Then, it hit her. "Wait, what do you mean it's a boy's dorm?"

"It means F wing is boys' exclusive, sweetheart." Seifer said sarcastically. Before she could retort, Quistis started explaining.

"Rinoa, there are six wings in total. A, C, E are girl's and B, D, F, are boy's." The blonde removed her glasses to clean the lenses with her blouse. "So it's very surprising that you are in F. You should ask the dorms manager to see if there were any mistakes."

"… Okay?" The girl replied unsurely. _'So I'll be the only girl there … What's so worrisome about that?'_ She didn't understand what the big deal was. Sure, she knew that boys could take advantage of her, but her friends and even Mr. Night were there. Nothing relatively bad could happen. Garden was an elite school after all; she trusted that the students enrolling here were dignified enough to not do stupid things. _'As long as I stay inside my room, it should be fine, right?'_

Seeing Rinoa's perplexed expression, Quistis understood that the girl didn't see the danger in her staying at a dorm full of boys, far away from the FR. The blonde was opening her mouth to lecture her friend when …

"Stop!" Selphie held out a hand authoritatively, huffing in mock anger. "When did this get so serious? Geez, if it's a mistake then deal with it later! The point here is that Rinoa is a dormy, the trip is free for her, end of story. Now, who's going? Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Okay, that's seven 'me's. All of us are going, yay!" She threw her arms into the air merrily. "I'm going to inform Mr. Night tomorrow. Any objections?"

Everyone stared at the hyperactive girl as if she had just gone crazy, resulting in a _What!_ from her.

"What the …" Seifer, again, was the first to break the silence. He hissed. "Who asked you to decide for us, Train Girl?"

"But you _are_ going anyway, right?" She questioned, getting a defeated nod from him. "Zell?" The spiky blonde gave her a thumbs-up. "Irvine?"

"You got it, beautiful." The cowboy pulled at his hat and winked at her. She happily shot him a smile and turned to Rinoa. The raven-haired girl made an okay sign with her hand. Then, Selphie looked at Quistis. The girl, who had stayed still for the last few minutes, daintily adjusted her glasses and said.

"It would be a nice chance to learn about Dollet."

"See?" The hyper brunette bounced in place, pointing at Seifer. "Everyone's going!"

"_I'm_ not going." Squall grumbled, getting everyone's attention. Rinoa was genuinely surprised, she had seriously thought he had gone back to sleep again; they all did. Seifer slapped the table satisfyingly and wagged his finger at the brunette as if saying _You're the man._ He then turned back to Selphie and smirked. "Oops, not _all_ of us are going."

"Aw, come on, Squall!" The perky girl stomped at the ground. "You have to go. It'll be a nice start-of-the-year for our group! Dollet is the city of fun! We're gonna have a _great_ time there."

"Yeah, maybe even bring back some souvenirs." Zell backed her up, but he then trailed off dreamily. "Spend time with someone …"

"Ooh, Chikenwuss finally got a girl." Seifer poked fun at him, receiving a middle finger from Zell, and a loud slap right into his stomach from Quistis. "Ow, have anyone told you that you don't hit like a girl? My breakfast almost shot out, you know." And he earned another slap.

"Whatever." Squall stood up, grabbing his backpack and walked out on them. That meant his decision had been finalized. "We'll have lunch at the cafeteria at twelve, it's your choice to be there." With that, the brunette disappeared from the doorframe.

It was Selphie's idea that they all eat together, and she had conveniently _bestowed_ on Squall the title of leader, in charge of deciding their meet-ups. He had refused of course. It was until the girl promised that she wouldn't annoy him anymore but Seifer instead that he agreed to take up the position, albeit quite reluctantly. He wasn't a very enthusiastic leader to be fair, like just now.

"Blast it! See you at noon." Selphie puffed up her cheeks and grabbed her bag also, stomping outside. The cowboy immediately shot up to his feet, touched his hat to say bye and dashed after the petite girl. After stretching his muscles, Zell mumbled something about hotdogs and shadowboxed his way out.

It seemed their meeting for now was over. Quistis gathered her things and waved at Rinoa before leaving. The raven-haired girl just stood there, completely carefree, and waved back at her friend. When Quistis was gone, she began to plan out what to do until twelve. Suddenly, she remembered something, something very important that concerned her safety. Now, if you had done the math, you'd realize that she was in the classroom alone with Seifer …

She could hear sounds of bones cracking and gulped.

Rinoa slowly turned to face a very smug-looking blonde, who was warming up his hands and wrists. What he did it for, she didn't want to know, but sadly she _did_ know. The girl took a step back, smiling inanely as she connected her fingertips together innocently. Her eyes darted around, searching for means of escape. Nothing. She timorously retreated but was stopped short by Seifer, who had slammed his hand at the wall and blocked her path. She then tried to run the other way, resulting in another slam, and she was imprisoned under his large frame.

She pressed and forced her back to the windowsill behind her to stay far away from Seifer, all in vain. There was a limit to how much you could squeeze a human body, and she had long reached that limit. The blonde snickered evilly and grabbed a handful of her hair. She whimpered pitifully, didn't dare to look into his eyes. Thoughts of screaming for help was raging inside her mind, but she quickly realized that her group had stayed back for too long, and there was no one around anymore.

She was scared of what he was about to do to her. He never did to her anything that could be considered a crime, but it was still enough to frighten her. The last time she had succumbed to one of his _serious _bullying session, she had ended up with permanent marker's ink on the side of her face. Seifer had said then that he wanted to mimic Zell's tattoo, and boy did he fail. Rinoa had had to stay home for a whole week and wait for the ink to fade. By the way, those products that claimed to be permanent ink remover, all scams. Either that, or Seifer had used a _very_ special pen, and she doubted he had.

"Seifer, it really hurts!" She said, prying at his hand to salvage as much of her hair as possible.

"Duh, that's the whole point." He rolled his eyes matter-of-factly, gripping harder at her hair. "Your stabbing hurts, too. Just so you know."

"It can't be _this_ bad." The girl reasoned hopelessly, pointing at her hair.

"You have _no_ idea." He drawled, scratching his chin meditatively as he looked around. "Now, what should I do with you? Hyne, it's been three long months. I must be getting rusty."

'_Oh my Hyne, stupid, stupid me. Why didn't I run away when I had the chance?' _Rinoa cried in her mind. _'I have to do something quick, I can't let it become like last year. Definitely not!'_ She spotted the deformed paperclip, which she had thrown away, right on the sill and grabbed it when Seifer wasn't looking. Then, she turned her neck a little and looked outside the window, her eyes widened at the sight. "… My Hyne! Who _is_ that guy kissing Quistis!"

"What! Where?" Seifer growled menacingly, shoving her away from the window to gain more view. She would have run if he wasn't still yanking at her hair. "I don't see-" His sentence was cut off and replaced with a string of curses. The blonde recoiled his hand from a piercing pain and excessively rubbed at the new hole on the back of his hand. It was safe to bet Rinoa had stabbed him yet again. He looked up indignantly to see that she had already gotten her backpack and was poking her tongue out at him.

"Meanie! If my stabbing hurts that much, you should be more careful."

Rinoa yelped and rushed out of the door as she saw the blonde charging at her. She didn't dare look back and kept running.

"Heartilly! Fuck you!" She heard Seifer bellowed from behind her. "Come back here this instance!"

'_Funny, as if I will.'_

* * *

><p>He was very sleepy. The night before, he was helping his father with some projects and forgot about having to go to school. And when he was enjoying his sweet nap, his friends just had to cause a ruckus. <em>'Is it a crime if Squall Leonhart sleeps outside of his house?'<em>

Because he had sensed that their discussion, one with a lot of digression if he might add, was not going to end anytime soon, he had dozed off again. Along that time, he was pretty sure they were laughing at him, for what he didn't know and didn't bother to find out. Anyway, he had quickly ended the longwinded discussion the moment he found the slightest hint of closure.

He was going to go straight to his dorm and sleep now. And, Hyne forbid, if anyone should come and disturb him in his sanctuary, he might just pull out his Lionheart. As he stepped down from the final step of the short staircase leading out of the classroom building, a sudden nudge hit him on the right shoulder. He turned to see bouncing chestnut-colored hair and a tongue sticking out at him.

Selphie then jerked her head away sulkily and ran towards wing A's direction. He had been holding it in but, he felt scammed. The girl had promised that she wouldn't annoy him anymore if he became their leader, but even when she wasn't annoying him, she still annoyed him. After a bit, Irvine rushed past him, not forgetting to throw him a friendly slap on the shoulder. Zell came next; the guy was excitedly shouting out something about hotdogs and library. However those two things mixed, Squall wasn't sure.

He shook his head at the disappearing figures of his friends and continued walking. Then, he remembered something. _That_ girl hadn't gotten out yet, and she should have been the first to scram, considering what she had done in the class. He decided that he was worrying too much; after all, four years of being bullied should have taught her more than that. _'She must be leaving with Quistis or something.'_

As he thought that, the mentioned blonde elegantly walked passed him ... _alone_. He returned Quistis's greeting gesture and put a hand to his forehead, sighing. _'So she didn't learn **that** much.'_ He turned back to the building and looked up to the window of his classroom; sure enough he saw a blue and black figure pressing against the sill.

Squall strode back up the steps and went inside. As he headed upstairs for his classroom, he could hear a familiar voice vocalizing profanities. Footsteps got louder and louder towards him. He was prepared to see someone, but what he never expected was Rinoa appearing right at the intersection and crashed straight into him.

They both bounced back from the collision, but the raven-haired girl was the only one who lost her balance. Seeing that she was about to fall, Squall's hand reflexively shot out to help steady her.

"Oh, Squall." Rinoa breathed out. "Thank Hyne, you're here. Seifer, he-"

The brunette never let her finished as he had shoved her into a nearby room, shutting the door in one swift, fluent motion. There was another rapping of footsteps echoing from behind him. He turned around to see his blond friend appearing at the intersection the same way Rinoa did; the guy seemed to be fuming. Squall acted confused, titling his head slightly to ask what was wrong.

"Where the fuck did she go?" Seifer growled.

"… Heartilly? Where else?" Squall gestured to the hallway behind him.

"Damn, she can't be _that_ fast." The blonde scratched his head, and looked at his friend incredulously. "Wait. What are _you_ doing here? You're not helping her, are you?"

Squall rolled his eyes and walked pass him. "I forgot something."

"You started getting in my way more by the end of last year." Seifer scoffed. The sound of his voice ignited something inside Squall. It was irritating to say the least. "Leonhart, don't tell me-"

"She's getting further away every second you spend interrogating me." He pointedly said over his shoulder. The brunette kept his glare fixed on his friend, conveying every bit of his annoyance built by lack of sleep. It was a long moment of deadly silence, and Seifer gave up in the end, smacking his tongue as he left.

"Oh well, she's not going anywhere." The blonde remarked coolly, he wouldn't let Squall have the last say in this. "Since she became a dormy, I practically have all the time in the world."

There was a subtle question in his mind at the time. Why did Seifer hate Rinoa so? Maybe the guy had been ticked off by her demanding money from them four years ago, but surely he couldn't have held it against her for all this time ... could he? Squall turned around to see Seifer going down the stairs. He waited for a little more and opened the door he had closed before to find that it was a closet. He spotted the raven-haired girl ensconcing herself behind a pile of dusty desks. If she was trying to hide … she wasn't very successful.

"Is he gone?" She poked her head out from under her shelter.

'_Yeah, go ahead and ask of the obvious.'_ He rolled his eyes again. _'Would I come in if he hadn't?'_

Squall let out a sleepy grunt and headed out. She hastily got up from the crouching position and ran after him. He was about to leave when he noticed the girl following him and grimaced. He gave her a glare, hoping his bloodshot eyes would add into the effect and scare her away.

"What?" He asked rudely.

"I want to thank you," she seemed unfazed by him and kept smiling. "I was running for dear life, you know? It seriously felt like I was in some high school horror movies, where the sweet female protagonist runs away from some maniacal killer." The girl paused to input a little laughter, finding the comparison funny. "Anyway, you have no idea how glad I was when I ran into you."

"I forgot something." He reiterated what he had said to Seifer, walking in the opposite direction, towards their classroom. _'It's completely by chance so no need to thank me. You can leave now.'_

"I see." Rinoa nodded meditatively and followed him, making his frown deepen. "Let's go together, then."

"What?" Squall asked in horror, but he had skillfully masked his face.

"You heard me." The raven-haired girl shrugged and quickened her pace to get ahead of him.

He kept staring at her back as they went, didn't really know what to think. This wasn't right; she was supposed to stay away from him. The reason why he had never helped her before was because girls of her type would get clingy and become annoying at one point. And she was beginning to do just that.

They were getting closer to the destination now, and he dreaded every step. He wished time would stop, he wished someone would come and disrupt their venture for some silly reasons that he couldn't care less about, he wished she would remember something - anything - and rush to her dorm, he wished a horde of Bite Bugs would appear out of nowhere and chase them away from here, he even wished a horror-movie like situation would commence and take her mind off of him. In short, he just wanted to distract her from the fact that-

"There's nothing here." Her voice had shoved him off his train of thoughts. "I mean, there's nothing that I could think of as yours, Squall." She had a faint hint of sarcasm in her tone. True enough, there were only tables, chairs and the whiteboard; not even a pen lying around that he could claim as his.

"Guess I made a mistake." He mumbled, pretending to look for something.

"Squall, I know you saw me up here since I saw you, too." Rinoa exposed his lie. "Stop feigning and let's get out so that I can lock the doors, because that's the only reason I'm here for."

The brunette silently cursed under his breath. He sure hoped she had meant what she said. But he wouldn't deny that he was feeling slightly more than relief to know she hadn't tagged along with him solely because he had saved her. He walked passed an arms-crossed raven-haired girl. His plan had now changed to leaving as soon as possible to avoid any heart-to-heart talks that could take place.

"You know, Squall," she remarked before he could do so, and he cursed again. Rinoa didn't really pay attention to him as her hand swiftly punched in the code at the touchpad next to the door. "It's not like the whole world will crumble if you admit to helping somebody and take credits for it. Why did you lie anyway?"

'_Here it comes.'_ He thought tiredly and wiped the sleepiness off his face. "What's it to you?"

"Well," she pulled at her backpack after she was done, and they started walking. "That was the first time you had ever helped me so openly, I thought it was only fair that I thank you openly as well, but you're just making it difficult. If you hadn't come, I would've run all the way back to my dorm, without locking the doors, and destroyed Mr. Night's trust in me. So, again, thanks."

He thought about it a little and found the perfect chance to change the subject. "Could you be any more of a teacher's pet?" He looked ahead of him, avoiding any eye-contacts with her. "Perhaps that's why Seifer bullies you so much."

"Squall, if you would just look around, you'd notice that real teacher's pets aren't anything like me." She stated, making hand gestures to emphasize her point. "I'm exclusively Mr. Night's only, and there is a real good reason behind it. I'm sure even you hold some goodwill towards him. Anyway, I only started being a teacher's pet, as you so called it, one year ago. Seifer's been on my case for _four _years."

What she said was true, his explanation wasn't valid. He guessed that something, which he hadn't noticed, must've happened then that made Seifer start bullying the girl. Squall thought about it, trying to recall anything that might have been the reason. Nothing came up. He wasn't too bothered about what was going on in Seifer's head four years back, so it was useless to try and remember now. He never knew anything in the first place.

He could sense a bit of anger in Rinoa's voice though; he had never expected her to take it personal. Maybe it was the mention of Seifer that made her disgruntlement.

"I thought because you're his friend, you'd know why he bullies me, but you obviously don't." Rinoa continued, making him feel a bit useless. "Oh well, no use worrying about it." She sighed.

Suddenly, she stopped abruptly and yanked at his arm, holing him back. He turned to her in confusion and found her looking straight back at him. For the first time in four years, he noticed that her eyes were a chocolate brown and found himself wondering why he hadn't before; her eyes were so big and round after all.

She beamed a smile at him that took him completely off guard, but he showed no sign of it.

"Squall, thank you, I mean it."

With that, the girl waved at him and quickly trotted away, leaving a bewildered Squall behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Author<strong>**'s Rant:** Okay, so I go by subtly funny situations.

**Rinoa: What do you mean by subtle? I was deemed an emo in the middle of a street! And Squall was even- *bursts out laughing***

**Squall: Whatever. -It's not funny. Sleep open-eyed? I can't even do that in the game. Nighthill, one day ...-**

**Seifer: Who cares about Puberty Boy. Listen here, you** **friggin'**** writer-wannabe. What happened to all those 'Seifer isn't bad' craps from Last Day of yours. You made me an ass up there.**

What? I make you good, you're not happy. I make you bad, you're still disgruntled. Geez, make up your mind.

**Seifer: I want to make Puberty Boy there miserable, not Rinoa!**

**Rinoa: Seifer, it really hurt you know. *pouts****, rubbing at the spot where Seifer has pulled at her hair***

**Seifer: S-She made me do it! *points accusingly at the author***

**Squall: -Whatever, just don't come near her again.- *silently uses Lionheart to draw a line on the ground* -Don't even step pass this line, Almasy.-  
><strong>

Squall, I know I invented the thinking-speech so that you would say more than 'whatever', but now, you're just being lazy by putting even that phrase into the thinking-speech. I won't allow-

**Squall: -Whatever.**** Rinoa, just stay close to me and ignore them.- *drapes arm around Rinoa and leads her away to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what***

**Seifer: *closes his agape mouth and glares at author* See what happens**** when you dote on a character too much?**

Aw, his twisted possessiveness is cute ... so shut it Almasy. Or your love story is a-

**Seifer: That threat again. Why don't you-**

Almasy?

**Seifer:*****grumbles and leaves***

Okay, anyway, this is quite long for a first chapter. I hope no one was tired out by it.


	3. Because He Never Cared

Did I say something about completing Last Day 5 before this? Well, bad me, but I couldn't do it. Sorry to those who are waiting for Last Day, really. Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter II: Because He Never Cared<strong>

The Garden's school ground was so empty she could have thought an epidemic had broken out and everyone had all evacuated from the place. Everyone except for a clueless girl who had been chased around by a maniacal killer … Okay, that joke was getting dull. Squall didn't even care to react when she had referred to herself as _sweet female protagonist_. But then again, when did Squall care about anything?

Why he came to help her was still a mystery. If it had been a whim, then it sounded a bit too spontaneous for Squall. But if he had actually been worried about her then … it was simply unthinkable. Squall _never _cared, he was only capable of minding his own business and brooding in silence.

Anyway, it was too deserted around her. Maybe everyone was just excited about the Dollet trip, so they all went back home or to the dorms to prepare for it. She should be, too. But she had to get something done first. She needed to look for the dorms manager, whoever that is, and ask about her room. After the events in the classroom, there was no way she was going to stay in F wing. Seifer was out to get her for sure now, he was the type to hold very long grudges. The proof was that he'd been bullying her for four years just because of ten gils she had demanded from him …

Alright, she confessed that wasn't the only reason why Seifer hated her. From the day the blond started bullying her, she had always fought back, just not very openly, by playing pranks on him. Judging from the earlier conversation, Squall never seemed to notice it, though, again, it wasn't like Squall to care. Oh well, if Squall didn't know then he should never know. In a sense, she wasn't very proud of what she had done.

There was some sort of tacit agreement between her and Seifer. He would only bully her when no one was around and she would get even just as secretly. But today, she had broken that agreement by stabbing him in the back, literally. Moreover, he was clearly pissed off just now. She knew full well the extent he would go just to _punish_ her. So for the time being, she could at least do herself a favor and stay out of his sight as much as possible.

She stood in front of the unfamiliar office. On the door had a glass sign with _Dorms Manager_ imprinted on in. The raven-haired girl had never been here before, because she had never had any business concerning the place. She brought a hand up to knock at the door and waited for any sign to tell her that she could come in.

"_Come in."_ A soft voice floated through the door; it sounded like a woman's. She had been prepared to talk to a dorm manager of any sex, but a woman would certainly be easier for her. Rinoa reached for the doorknob when it suddenly turned and the door was pulled away from her. Her gaze shot up to meet with a pair of dark irises.

Stood behind the doorframe was a tall man with messy black hair; dark blue highlights running down his shaggy bangs. He greeted her with a toothy grin; she swore she had seen _eight_ sharp canines at the corners of his mouth. Before she could blink at the odd number of canines, her eyes dropped to his torso, which was naked, revealing firm biceps with a few scars scattered around his six packs abs.

Rinoa stood frozen at the spot; her hands unconsciously tightened the grip around her backpack's strap. For a moment, she was scared to look lower than his stomach. To her relief, she could see a black waistband peeking at the edge of her vision, and she relaxed a bit. However, she was still scared nonetheless. Wasn't the voice a female's? Why did a man, a naked one to add, open the door for her?

Trying to not be rude, she quickly looked pass the tall man, into the room to search for any trace of a woman. No one. The white office was quite small. It was empty apart from several pots of plants, a set of sofas and a large window looking out towards the dormitory buildings.

Her eyes darted back to the dark-haired man suspiciously. _'Don't tell me … **he** could produce that feminine voice?'_

He stepped sideways and opened his mouth to speak, probably was going to tell her to come in. Time seemed to slow down as Rinoa stared at his parted lips in horrified anticipation, however that was possible. A part of her mind wanted to hear a girly voice coming out of the man's mouth, but the other_ bigger_ part just didn't.

"What do you think you're doing?" The same voice she had heard before flooded her ears, with much more power this time around. She almost did a double take, but quickly realized that the voice hadn't come from the half-naked man in front of her.

The man closed his mouth and snickered at someone to his right. Rinoa didn't have to wait long before a beautiful woman with long, jet black hair stepped in front of him. She had pearly white skin and deep azure eyes; her slim posture exuded with grace as she confidently held her head high. Rinoa felt as if she had just gone back to the moment when she had met Quistis for the first time, the sense of fascination. However, the feeling was more overwhelming this time, the woman before her did not have Quistis's kind gaze.

The woman gave Rinoa a look from head to toe, which made the girl felt a bit uncomfortable, then turned around and to face with the man.

"I thought I told you to get changed," she pushed him back with force that seemed almost impossible for her stance. Her face muscle shifted ever so slightly to indicate an annoyed frown, which could even pass as a forlorn expression. Oceanic orbs darted to Rinoa once more and snapped right back to the man. "Put a shirt on, you're scaring the girl!" For such a subtle-looking woman, the fierce voice was simply unbefitting.

"I was going to but she came knocking. You were busy so I-" The man tried to reason, but was easily disregarded by an unnoticeable glare from the woman. He pulled a face and disappeared from the doorframe, probably to go and get changed like he was told to.

The woman, who Rinoa assumed was the dorms manager, sighed with arms folded. She put a hand to her chin meditatively for a bit and turned to Rinoa. The young teen was very nervous now. It was as if the manager was sizing her up, and she was tempted to break the eye-contact. But wouldn't that be very rude? The manager, again, was very beautiful … and was a head taller than her, too. Rinoa had always been bothered by her own height, so standing before a tall beauty didn't really help her self-esteem. She couldn't help but feel inferior to the older woman.

'_I really need to start minding my height now … Not that I haven't already.'_ She cried silently. Apart from Selphie, every girl that Rinoa _knew_ was taller than her.

Back to the matter at hand, the manager also seemed very unfriendly. Although Rinoa was still frightened of the half-naked man, she found herself wishing that he was the manager instead. After all, talking with a grinning weirdo was better than facing a scowling beauty.

"Sorry," the manager tiredly shook her head and straightened her slumped shoulders. "That man just aggravates me."

'_Yeah, I can see that._' Rinoa thought. She saw the woman's face soften and became less tense. Even if there was still a small hint of the frown, at least she knew it wasn't directed at her.

The woman gestured daintily at the room. "Do come in."

Rinoa timidly followed the woman into the office, and took care to close the door behind her. She was prepared to be asked to sit down on the sofas when the woman led her to the left side of the room, and through another doorframe. There was another room behind the door, and the place was surrounded by glass walls. Outside, she could see a large green yard embracing the building. She suddenly realized that this was a room she had seen many times when she was on the way to the dorms to meet up with her friends.

The manager sat down behind a desk in the center of the room and nodded to tell Rinoa to go ahead and sit down opposite of her. Rinoa sat down on the chair and put down her backpack. Then, she watched as the young woman swiftly organized the already neat stacks of papers on the desk. They were most probably all dormies' files that were waiting to be stored into the computer, which was also on the desk.

After quickly surf through some of the files, the manager sat up straight and made a small sound to get the student's attention. Rinoa never noticed as she was busy looking over the woman's shoulder, at the dorms from afar. It wasn't until the woman directly called her name.

"Ms. Heartilly?" The dark-haired manager asked with a polite tone that didn't fail to express her frustration.

"Y-yes." She snapped up straight at the sound of her name. _'Wait, she knows my name?'_ Questions as to how the woman would know about her flashed through her mind; they were quickly answered though.

"Don't be so surprised." The woman assured her and put down the file she was holding. It was none other than Rinoa's picture glued on the corner of the file. "I have expected you to come, after all."

"I see … Miss, uh …" Rinoa trailed off, realizing that she never knew the manager's name.

"Oh, how careless of me." The woman held out her hand dutifully. "My name is Lilith Lunacrast."

"Ms. Lunacrast." Rinoa shook the hand she was offered quite hesitantly. She had never gotten acquainted to anyone by handshakes before, in her opinion, it just seemed too formal. "Um, isn't there … you know, something wrong? I've heard F is a boy's wing."

"I'm afraid to say that you heard right." The woman affirmed the information and began explaining. "The female dormitory students this year has dropped by half compared to last year due to some reason. So our Headmaster decided to close off the E wing to remodel it. All of the decision had all been made, signed and sealed with the constructing team when your dormitory request came in. Regrettably, there were no more rooms in the remaining two female wings."

Rinoa nodded, as she had no better respond to the information. So did that mean she had to stay in F wing if she were to be a dormy?

"I'm sorry I could not get this news to you sooner, Ms. Heartilly." Ms. Lunacrast said worriedly. "I was away for a while, and when I came back, the admittance department had already put you in a male dormitory. It was already halfway through summer, but I have tried contacting your family …"

Rinoa suddenly doubled up and laughed out loud. Knowing how close she had been to the failure of her plan was just oddly funny.

When summer had started, she had secretly signed her parents into a trip around the world. It was a teenager thing. She wanted to spend more time with her friends, and her parents needed more time with each other anyways. So why not? She had gotten an earful for that, but she had eventually been able to convince them that she would be fine in the dorms. Halfway through summer, they all had had a family trip. The manager must have called after they'd left. Had she call any sooner … Well, Rinoa knew for a fact that if her parents had found out she'd be living in a dorms with a bunch of boys, her file wouldn't even be sitting on Ms. Lunacrast's desk right now.

Noticing the questioning look from the older woman, Rinoa held up a hand in apology and tried to recompose herself. When she did, the manager continued.

"I also tried calling yesterday, but still no one answered."

Rinoa could have burst into another fit of laughter, but she refrained. Yesterday, her family had gone to a restaurant to have the last dinner together before her parents departed today. If that hadn't been good luck then Rinoa didn't know what was.

"And earlier this morning, I've attempted to find you at the dormitory, but you were late and never paid attention to me." The woman shook her head tiredly.

The raven-haired teen blinked laconically. She looked at the woman for a bit, and then her eyes drifted off as she searched her memory. Earlier, she had frantically rushed into the dorms and thrown every piece of her luggage to her room. If she remembered correctly, she had run into someone on the way out, literally. She had been too worried about being late that she had only managed to throw a simple apology and rocketed away almost right after. She had heard someone shouting behind her, but couldn't make out the words.

"That was you?" Rinoa asked wide-eyed. "I thought it was some uncivilized girl cursing at me for sla-" She could have slap herself as she realized she had sputtered out some very rude comment. Seeing the uninterested expression on the manager's face, she immediately switched back to business. "Sorry … You wanted to inform me and family of the fact that I'm going to live in a boy's dorm?"

Ms. Lunacrast nodded once and took out some papers from inside the desk's drawer. Rinoa could see that one of them had a title of _Request to Leave Dorm_.

"You will need your parents' signatures." The woman said as she handed Rinoa the form.

The girl stared hard the paper. She really didn't want to have to go back to a house that now had no one in it; all of the servants had already left on their paid vacation. She'd be all alone. But then, living in a place while being cautious all the time also wasn't a very pleasant idea. Her big home may be scary without people in it, but at least Seifer wouldn't be there concocting his revenge on her. Staying home alone or staying here with imminent danger … Really tough choice.

"Um," Rinoa pondered over the words she should use. After all, her circumstances were going to be very troublesome. "Isn't there … something that can be … arranged?"

"Is there a problem, Ms. Heartilly?" The manager questioned her reluctance.

"Um, yeah." Rinoa said with a strained smile. "You see, my parents are kind of out of the country at the moment. … They were confident that I'd be _here_ so they took the keys with them. You know, to avoid me bringing my friends over and party or something, not that I'd do it."

"In conclusion, you don't wanna go home." A statement came from behind her and she saw another frown crept up on Ms. Lunacrast feature. Before she could turn her neck, the dark-haired man walked passed her and around the desk. Then, he draped his arms around the young manager from behind. "Leave it, Lil. If she wants to stay at F, let her. Kids their age like to spend time with friends …" He halted and looked directly at Rinoa. "Or perhaps _boyfriend_."

Although she was never guilty of what he was implying, his words brought a flush a colors onto her face. A mixture of embarrassment and anger rose inside her, with anger as the dominating feeling. She had never even had a boyfriend! Rather than trying to get close to a guy, she was actually trying to _get away from _one. Which part of her being here made him think she was so thrilled about living in a dorm full of boys?

Rinoa was about to say something when the man let out a painful hiss; Ms. Lunacrast was pinching at his naked arm. It didn't seem like he was exaggerating, the young woman's nails were digging into his skin. After a bit, he couldn't endure it anymore and had to retract his arm in dismissal. Rinoa could even see telltale nail marks on his arms; he just simply grinned at the pain though, and she was reminded of his abnormal canines. They just seemed … predatorily dangerous.

"Sorry, he just says things as he likes." The manager said apologetically. From behind her, the man was pouting but she didn't spare him one look. "So … I assume from what you've told me that you wish to stay in F wing?

Rinoa thought about it again and answered. "Yes, please."

Ms. Lunacrast observed her for a long while then sighed. "Then there is nothing more I can do. If there is any problem, you are welcome to come to me. It is because of my absence that things have come to this."

"Thank you. I'll leave now." Rinoa picked up the backpack that was lying at the foot of the desk and excused herself. She somewhat appreciated the woman's concerns, not many people were that responsible.

"… Ms. Heartilly." The manager stopped her as she was about to walk out. "Please wait outside for a bit, I will assign someone to escort you to your dorm." Rinoa's face fell. That meant she was going to get a personal supervisor.

Too responsible.

"No, it's okay." She hastily waved her hand in front of her face. "That's not necessary. I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry but this is a serious matter." Ms. Lunacrast said firmly and dialed a few numbers from her phone. "Raze, be a dear and keep her company."

With that, the young woman turned away to engage in a conversation with someone on the phone. Raze, the dark-haired man, started towards Rinoa, and she immediately headed outside. No, she was not running away, whoever her supervisor was would be knocking at her door later anyway. She was only going to wait outside like she was told to.

Rinoa sat down on one of the sofa and watched as the man waltzed his way to the seat opposite of her. She gave him a look which induced another toothy grin from him. In less than one second, she jerked her gaze away from him and concentrated on the dorms from afar instead. If she wasn't mistaken, that block was where Selphie and Quistis stayed at. It must be A wing. Why couldn't she just stay there with one of them? Why was everything so complicated? Had she convinced her parents sooner, this wouldn't have happened. This problem, it sounded so simple but somehow was so frustrating to deal with. Rinoa found herself hugging her backpack for reassurance.

"You know," the man suddenly broke the quietness in the room. "She's only trying to be thoughtful. Lilith just has a really poor way of showing it." It seemed he thought she was angry at Ms. Lunacrast. But he was wrong, she was only cautious about _him_. His dark, lazy eyes just gave off a bad vibe.

Rinoa glanced at him momentarily and decided to learn from Ms. Lunacrast: ignore him. However he conceived her replying action, he began snickering amusedly. Suddenly, his laugh was cut short as he had an expression as if he had just remembered something. He snapped his fingers and gestured for her to lean in closer. Of course she didn't comply, so he did so himself.

"You don't have to be so wary." He brought a hand next to his mouth and whispered. "I'm not gonna turn into some maniacal killer, heck this story doesn't even have antagonists to begin with."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow and stared at him weirdly. The man just resumed his chuckling as he continued. "I'm sure we'll be meeting quite often. It'd be pretty unpleasant if I receive glares from you every time I walk by so … If I offended you in anyway, then sorry. I didn't mean it, 'kay?"

She crossed her arms habitually and took a good look at the man. The heavy atmosphere from before was gone and replaced with a more comfortable one. His first impression wasn't the nicest, but maybe he was okay after all. Although he had an impulsive mouth, at least he spoke his mind. Well, she was never the type to hold grudges, unlike _someone_ she knew … Okay, so she did hold grudges, but that was only towards Seifer.

"Alright. I wasn't that bothered anyways." She smiled at him. "Just don't say stuff like that again."

"So we're cool?" He asked and waited for a nod from her. The man reached over the table between them, holding out his hand. "I'm the new janitor for the male dorms. Just call me Raze." So that was why he said they'd be meeting often.

"Rinoa." She followed up and grabbed his hand. Two handshakes in a day, was this how adults get acquainted with each other, she wondered.

"Rinoa?" A familiar voice echoed her name. They both blinked and turned their heads to see a blond man standing behind the opened door. His hair had a very, very light shade of gold; it had never failed to help her distinguish him from the crowd. He was none other than Mr. Night.

"Hi, Mr. Night." She waved at him excitedly as he entered the room.

"One of your students?" Raze said mischievously. "You two are on first name basis?" The raven-haired teen eyed him accusingly and he shot her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"It's been a while," Mr. Night approached her while giving the janitor an acknowledging nod. Rinoa was surprised to know that they were acquaintances. "Rinoa, if I'm not mistaken, you're in the dorm this year?"

"Um, pretty much, yeah." She said bashfully. It could be a coincident that Mr. Night was here, but he might just be her supervisor. And if that was so then she wouldn't mind.

"Night, you're here." Ms. Lunacrast walked out from the inner room almost hastily; a bright smile was present on her refined feature. Rinoa nearly did a double take at the sight, she had thought the stern woman wasn't capable of … beaming so happily like she was doing now. The young manager scanned the teacher and his student knowingly and started. "I assume you two have known each other already."

"My _pet._" The blond teacher said gently as he patted the girl's head, inducing a few giggles from her.

"No way! Night jokes!" Raze exclaimed, standing up abruptly. He looked at Ms. Lunacrast, who seemed questionably displeased; she just replied by tilting her head away. Rinoa was beginning to feel sorry for the man; he was always ignored. He didn't seem to mind and turned back to his blond friend. "I know it's been five years but, wow."

Rinoa eyes drifted between the three adults. They were talking about things in the past that she couldn't comprehend. However, the topic about Mr. Night piqued her interest. Although he was a bit untalkative and didn't express himself much, but she wouldn't say that he didn't know how to joke. She gazed up to see him looking quite disturbed by the topic.

"Lilith," Mr. Night strode up the dark-haired woman and they exchanged a hushed conversation.

As Rinoa watched them she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. They matched each other so well. Every bit of their features clashed but somehow they complimented one another. Her dark stream against his light-bearing hair; her smile against his cool demeanor. She was small and slender, and he was tall and strong. It was as if they were crafted as a pair. _'Stop!'_ Okay, now she was writing novels in her head.

"Well, see ya around, Rinoa." Raze unexpectedly saluted her, pulling her out of her thoughts. Before she could even blink, Mr. Night tapped on her shoulder to tell her that they were leaving. She quickly bid simple goodbyes to the other two people and followed her teacher out of the room.

* * *

><p>He was very sleepy. Very, very sleepy. He hadn't finished unpacking his luggage, but that could be saved for later. He needed some sleep first. He was lying inside a familiar room, on a familiar bed, burying his head into a familiar pillow; there was practically nothing that would stop him from having a good long nap. He was so sure that the moment he closes his eyes, sleep would drown him in its pleasant embrace. He was so damn sure of it. And he was so damn wrong. He had been lying for thirty minutes, unable to sleep a blink.<p>

Every time he closed his eyes, the events that were roughly an hour ago would rush to the front of his mind and immediately make his eyes snap open. He remembered her smiling face as she thanked him. It had been such a long time ago since she last beamed that smile at him, and that was when she was thirteen. Seeing it anew four years later was … different, it made his stomach feel strange.

Squall grumbled and sat up on the bed. He had already set the alarm, but at this rate he was a bit doubtful that he would wake up to its call, _provided_ that he could even have a bit of sleep by then. He had to get to sleep somehow; it was only another four hours until twelve. As much as he didn't want to go to the stupid lunch meet, he knew he had to, or Selphie would never let him hear the end of her whining.

Through his life, he had learnt that when he didn't like the idea of something but had to do it anyway, it would be less bitter if he actually made up his mind about doing it right from the start. Basically, he had already prepared to go to the lunch meet. But right now, his eyes were trying to convince him otherwise.

He wiped his face tiredly and looked around, before climbing off his bed and left his room. Outside, there was another room adjacent to his, although separated by a thick wall. Last year, he had been lucky to have this dorm room all to himself. The brunette wondered if he'd be as lucky this year. He didn't want to deal with sharing the only bathroom with another person. Nor did he want to have to set out rules with his hypothetical roommate. He wasn't a neat-freak but at least he demanded a certain level of order.

At least he hadn't seen the face of this hypothetical roommate. That was a good start.

Squall walked into the bathroom to his right. Whoever said that cold water could help relief sleepiness was lying, he never felt any better after washing his face. Looking into the mirror, he found himself thinking about the issue between Seifer and Rinoa. He really couldn't put up a good reason why those two could hate each other so, especially if the girl was always at the receiving end. The blond bullied her so much that every time she was absent for something, Squall would automatically assume that it was because of Seifer. Not that he'd care.

The lad shook his head and left the bathroom, but instead of going into his own room, he went outside. Just as he locked the door, he could here chatters echoing at the corner and turned to see Rinoa and his homeroom teacher, walking away at the corner. That reminded him, she was in this wing after all.

* * *

><p>"If there's anything, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?" Mr. Night said with a small smile. "My place is just at the end of this hallway."<p>

"Okay, I will." Rinoa answered happily. She didn't really think much of it until his expression turned serious and he bent down to her.

"I mean it, Rinoa." The blond teacher looked straight into her eyes. It was the first time she had ever seen his face so close, and she noticed how his irises were a beautiful color of malachite. "This wing is fine normally so you might not know it but after partying nights, it would be filled with drunken _boys_. I would have forced you to go home if you didn't have your house's keys with you."

"… Oh, I know. My friends have already told me about it." She recovered from her daze quite quickly and beamed at him. Mr. Night was so considerate that she felt a bit guilty. She _did_ have the keys with her, she just didn't want to be alone at home. Staying here, she would have her friends, she wouldn't be lonely and they would protect her from Seifer … somehow. "Some of them are here too, I'll be fine."

The blond looked at his student for a bit and sighed at her carefree attitude. Maybe he thought that she was too oblivious. Okay, she liked him, but he was just looking down on her. Did he forget she was in his self-defense class? She could take care of herself if needed be.

"Mr. Night, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." She pulled at the strap of her backpack to shift its position, and then gave the teacher a thumbs up. "But I'll come to you if I _really_ need something, would that be okay?"

He seemed reluctant, but smiled and patted her head in the end. Mr. Night was such a caring person; if only Squall could be half as caring at him, she wouldn't have suffered the last four years. She stood and watched as he walked away, until he stopped in front of his room, which was at the end of the hall like he had said it would be. Before entering, he waved slightly at her and she replied back enthusiastically. He didn't know it, but his patting gave her power. He made her feel like she could take on anything, even Seifer.

She smiled at nothing in particular and entered her own room. Who was her roommate, she wondered. Would it be someone she had already known? Would he be good company? As she turned her back to the inside of the room to close the door she heard the sound of door-opening behind her. Before she could even turn around, a voice greeted her with much glee.

"Oh, no fucking way!"

She froze. How she wanted to reiterate that sentence. In a corner of her mind, there was a faint hope that she had heard wrong, and that the one standing behind her wasn't the one she thought it was. "Heartilly?" She cringed at the sound of her name. Was it some kind of curse that she always had to react negatively when her name is called?

Rinoa spun around to face with her worse nightmare yet. It was none other than Seifer, who stood cross-armed smirking evilly. She wouldn't be surprised if he had just thought up some kind of plan right then and there to make her miserable.

She didn't need a mirror to know that her eyes were as bulgy as they could get. Had she tried so hard to run away from him just to waltz straight into his room later? She felt like a helpless little fawn all over again. Where was all the courage Mr. Night gave her when she needed it?

During these four years, she had noticed something. For some reason, any defiance from her, no matter how solid it was, would just oddly sublimate when it came to the object of her dilemma, Seifer. Maybe she was just being too overconfident, and she was more scared of Seifer than she thought. Sure she had self-defense class, but Seifer was in that same class along with Squall and the others. And sadly, she was the worst student in the class, while Seifer was at the top together with Squall. She had no chance against him.

As much as she hated the idea of not being able to stand up for herself, she couldn't help but stay fearful of him. He had been bullying her for four years, even if she did manage to get back at him, it could never give her enough courage to fight him face to face.

And was that a beer bottle in his hand? She didn't mean to think of the worst, but Mr. Night's words just kept ringing in her ears, telling her about _drunken _boys in F wing. In any case, it should be fine, right? After all, Seifer didn't seem drunk.

"Come on in, it's not like I'm gonna bite." Seifer's invitation sounded very dangerous. Should she run? Mr. Night was only at the end of the hallway after all. But hadn't she just made up her mind to fight him earlier this morning? If she just kept running away then she would get nowhere in this.

The raven-haired girl took a few steps inside the room and directly looked at him. This seemed to amuse him greatly, and he began circling around her like a predator closing up on his prey. Okay, she was beginning to regret this. But she had already gone this far … Well, it wasn't _that_ far but at least she thought it was too late to change Chocobos now.

"You know, it's bad for your tummy if you drink beer before meals." She tried for a brave and firm voice, and it came out like a pitiful whimper. Boy did she epically fail. Seifer burst out laughing; his tone had a maniacal hint that may have been added by the booze.

"How kind of you." He mocked, approaching her suddenly. As he bent down at her, she could smell the alcoholic stench from his breath. It was only faint, but still made her scrunch up her nose. She never stood well with those drinks anyway. "Is this some kind of plan to ease my anger? Hm?" The blond continued huskily, using his free hand to grab her by the cheeks and shook her head forcefully. If you haven't had anyone done this to you before, she would tell you that it hurt real bad.

Rinoa pushed his hand away angrily and decided to go to her room, which was on the left, when she saw her luggage lying in a corner of the room.

"Seifer, why is my stuff on the floor?" She asked, pointing at her suitcases.

"Well, _princess_," Seifer drawled lazily, climbing onto the table in the middle of the room. Was it his sit-on-the-table day or something? "My room has always been on the left, and I want it to stay there. Problem?"

"Fine, meanie." Rinoa stuck her tongue out at him and went to collect her belongings. She opened the door to her new room and was dumbstruck. Her eyes widened as if she had seen a beheaded Wendigo, and yes, she knew that Wendigos could _never_ be beheaded.

A putrid smell of mould and decomposing tissues burst into her nostrils; inside the bedroom was a total garbage land. Beer bottles, as well as cans, mounted into piles on the bed, table, and floor; some were even stuck on the wall. How they came to be on the wall was beyond her. Then, there were several half-eaten sandwiches and hotdogs lying all over the place. The bed sheet was in such a poor condition that even a homeless man wouldn't sleep on it. Balls of discarded paper were literally sown everywhere and … _'Is that a dead spider lying on the desk!'_ She silently cried out in horror. The room was practically Seifer's junkyard, which was covered in a thick layer of summer dirt.

When she got here earlier, there was no one and nothing in the dorm room so she had assumed she got to choose her bedroom first. So she went for the room on the left just because she read from left to right, and never even touched the other room. Just her luck that her roommate was Seifer, and he was obviously a pig. A very sly pig, to add. The room on the left was as neat as it could ever be; now she knew why. Every single piece of trash had already been thrown into the room next to it. Also, she understood why Seifer didn't push the revenge matter; he had already exacted his revenge.

This was just unfair and totally infuriating. She crossed her arms and turned to ask him in a sweet tone. "Seifer? Do you, by any chance smoke Malboro? Or do you actually keep the real thing in here as a pet?"

"Very funny, Heartilly." Seifer rolled his eyes.

"What the _hell _is this, Seifer?" She snared.

"Oh," he leisurely took a gulp of his bottle. "You see, I had this room all to myself last year. It was so fucking awesome. I just throw everything that was too annoying to clean up into that room. Sorry about that."

'_Yeah, and I bet you found **everything** annoying.' _Rinoa muttered under her breath. His smug face really made her want to throw him into his junkyard together with a bunch of knife wielding Tonberrys, never mind that he could very well be one himself.

"You know," Seifer said over her shoulder. "With those suitcases, I thought that some new guy was going to be my roommate. If I had known it was you, I would have been more of a gentleman and brought your stuff to your room for you. Geez, put some flower on them, woman."

"No, thank you." She snarled, mentally thanking Hyne that Seifer didn't throw her belongings into that dump. "And sorry if I'm not feminine enough."

With that, the raven-haired girl went into the dump … her room to begin with the cleaning. She took a good look at the place, trying to keep a frustrated sigh in. There was no hope of anyone helping her now, was there? If Seifer had bullied her by pinning her down or something then there would still be a reason for her to call Mr. Night, or even Squall, for help. But like this … she was on her own. If she had told other people about this then it would only seem like she was whining.

She had told Mr. Night that she could take care of herself, and he had trusted her. She shouldn't trouble him with these trivial matters. She'd be fine.

* * *

><p>Four hours had swiftly floated by, and now she was sitting in the Garden's cafeteria, waiting for her friends. Before anyone questions, no, she was <em>not <em>done with the cleaning up. She had even specifically saved the spider for last. It was so damn hairy!

She was sitting with Squall in a corner of the cafeteria. She had been meaning to ask him, but was there something about corners that their group always had to be in one? However, that could only be played inside her head, as she was very cautious about striking any type of conversation with the brunette opposite of her right now. He seemed to be in a very foul mood, not to mention that his eyes were still bloodshot. Hadn't he gotten _any _sleep in the past four hours?

The silence on the table was very awkward now. Why wasn't anyone here yet? Seifer should have come here with her, but on the way, he had steered to the A wing, saying that he'd pick up Quistis. He would probably lengthen their walk just to spend more time alone with Quistis. Zell and Irvine, she could never depend on them to be punctual, especially Irvine. Selphie would definitely come along with Irvine. In conclusion, her friends might just come in when lunch had ended.

On the other hand, Squall, despite being the most reluctant participant of the lunch meet, was the first to arrive and save their group a table. For a reluctant leader, he was astoundingly responsible. She kind of admired him for that.

Then she noticed something very … disturbing. Squall was staring at her, and he didn't even flinch when her eyes caught his. She found herself being sucked into his swirling blue orbs; those stormy eyes just seemed so mysterious. Rinoa hastily pulled her thoughts away from his enchanting eyes and concentrated on a much more serious problem: _Squall _was staring at _her!_

'_Why is he staring at me?' _His gaze was just too intense, or maybe she was just imagining it. _'Should I look away? Would that be too rude? Wait … For all I know, he could be sleeping with his eyes opened again. But then … if, by any chance, he **is** looking at me …'_ During her thoughts, she didn't even dare to blink. She had an indescribable urge to ask him what was wrong, but she could never voice the question. All sounds around her blurred as her heart beat faster and faster, and she …

"Hello, Rinny dear?" Selphie's voice rang through her ears like an alarm clock. She was quickly pulled out of her reverie and back into reality. The petite brunette was beaming as she landed onto the seat next to Rinoa. "Are you two having a staring contest or something?"

"Er … Y-Yeah." The raven-haired girl answered nervously. Thank Hyne it had been Selphie, had it been anyone else …

"Howdy, fellas." Irvine sat down next to Selphie, lifting his hat slightly for his trademark greetings. "Is it just me or do I smell chemistry?"

This had Rinoa more than flustered. She was afraid someone would interpret the situation wrongly. The girl was still conjuring up her reply when Selphie hit the cowboy playfully. "Irvine, again, bad rhyme."

"What do I have to do to make it good then?" He pouted but brightened up almost immediately. "I know, you can teach me tonight, at my dorm. How does that sound?"

"Irvine!" The perky girl hit him in mock anger, and giggled at his fake pleas.

"You're late." A low voice, which no one had expected to hear, grumbled. Wait, wait. Squall was awake just now or …

"I just saw some very disturbing thing." Zell said, disrupting her thoughts. He had an exaggerated expression of horror as he sat down together with Quistis and Seifer. Now this was an odd combination. Rinoa even noticed Quistis avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Shut up, Chickenwuss." Seifer hissed dangerously. "We were in the middle of something-" He was cut short by a loud slap from the blonde.

Everyone on the table stared wide-eyed at Seifer and Quistis, except for Squall because he couldn't possibly care about anything that Seifer could have been _in the middle of_.

"Trust me," Zell shook his head melodramatically. "You guys don't wanna know."

Selphie and Irvine gasped just as grave, and they maintain their comedic pose for two seconds before everyone all burst out laughing, with the exception once again being Squall and a very embarrassed blond couple. Okay, at least she was off the hook; Irvine seemed to have forgotten the chemistry thing.

"I'll go get lunch." Seifer stood up in an attempt to change the topic. "What do you want, Quisty?"

"Oh, I want fried chickens," Selphie pranced up excitedly. "You know, the type that comes with cute little Carbuncle figures?"

"Who asked you, Train Girl?" The blond snared. "I was asking Quistis."

"Boo." Selphie puffed out her cheeks sulkily and crossed her arms. This was a cue for Irvine to stand up and tell her that he'd get the fried chickens for her. He proceeded on being the ladies' man and asked Rinoa what she wanted; the answer was some beef salad and a small hamburger. Then, it was decided that Seifer and Irvine would get lunch for the whole group, when Zell suddenly shot up from his seat and shouted out "Hotdogs!" and went running to the counter. Although everyone had already gotten used to it, sometimes they couldn't help but feel like they wanted to _not_ know him.

The girls remained at the table, chatting away about random things. Even though talking with Selphie was doomed to never ending change of topics, at least it was way better than saying nothing at all in Squall's company.

"Quisty, did you really _not _do _anything _with that creep?" Selphie questioned suspiciously.

"No, I didn't." Quistis answered for the umpteenth time; her frustrated tone brought Rinoa to laughter.

"Squall, there's still time to think again." Sure enough, the hyperactive girl had changed the topic. "If you go to the trip then you can spend time with our sweet Rinny, you know."

Okay, what was that? Rinoa nudged at Selphie mindfully to receive a playful wink from her. Squall never answered the question though.

Then, the small brunette pulled out a dark-colored bottle from her dress's pocket. Selphie looked at Quistis and Rinoa; the mischievous look never left her face as she brought a finger to her mouth to tell them it was suppose to be hush and shush. Quistis gave Selphie a slightly disagreeing nod, probably worried about the unseen consequences. Rinoa was more curious about what the perky girl could have up her sleeves this time, but decided to not ask anything so that she could be surprised along with the others.

It didn't take long for the two _errand boys_ to come back with what each person wanted. Seifer had a whole plate of high calories food, which raised many questions about how he keep himself fit after digesting all of those, while Quistis settled for a salad and some soup. Irvine also had fried chickens so that Selphie could have double the amount of little Carbuncle figures. And finally, Squall settled for only a simple sandwich.

Everyone began to eat when Zell came back with a tray of mounted hotdogs that made the freshmen around the cafeteria stared in wonder. Seriously, until the freshmen got used to Zell, people would keep directing weird looks at her group every time they enter the cafeteria.

In the middle of the meal, Rinoa saw Selphie played with the small bottle from before as she nervously eyed Irvine. So whatever the prank was, it was meant for the cowboy. The raven-haired girl silently wished him good luck and watched the small brunette next to her opened the vial.

Selphie was going to get Irvine's attention when he suddenly stood up and went around the table to whip up a conversation with their grumpy leader. Squall had long finished his sandwich and was scowling at the empty plate for no apparent reason; he seemed very annoyed when the cowboy sat down next to him. Back to the perky girl, she pouted momentarily and decided to follow her boyfriend to the other side of the table; her forceful movements raised some questioning glances from her friends.

'_Irvine must have done something pretty bad that she's so keen on punishing him.'_ Rinoa thought as her petite friend approached the cowboy from behind. Selphie, who had yet to reach Irvine, had already raised her arm in a hasty attempt to pour the contents of the vial onto Irvine when she was suddenly tripped over by something. Things happened faster than anyone could react, and a transparent liquid went flying out of the small bottle; it never reached the destination it was meant to reach.

Irvine was as dry as he could ever be, and he was staring wide-eyed at a dripping Squall next to him. All activities at the table froze and they all became quiet; the noises from around the cafeteria were more prominent that ever. Selphie let out a whine as she got up to her feet, conveniently gaining everyone's attention. Their eyes drifted from her to Squall, then back to her again. Well, except for Rinoa. She was busy looking at Squall.

For the four years that she had known him, she had never seen him like this before. Not that it could happen that easy, but the idea of Squall getting something poured onto him had never even crossed her mind. The foreign liquid was dripping down from his long bangs, as well as his chin. His eyes were reflexively squeezed shut as his jaw tightened with annoyed anger. One thing Rinoa knew was that to never dump water onto a drowsing person, especially when said person had a bad temper.

The atmosphere at the table was deadly. Everyone was anticipating some kind of outburst from the brunette as Selphie gaped at her wet victim. Squall frown deepened as he brought a hand up to his face and wiped his eyes. Behind him, Selphie, upon realizing what she had done, frantically jumped in place while waving her arms.

"N-no, Squall!" She shouted in desperation. "Don't open your eyes!"

Too late, he had opened his eyes a millisecond before she finished the sentence. Rinoa saw Selphie's face paled and then realized he was staring directly at her. His stormy orbs whirled straight at her, for that one moment she was swept back to the past. Back to the first time she had met eyes with the young him, how she was sucked into those beautiful irises. Her fantasy was quickly extinguished as his lids suddenly squeezed shut again. He seemed to be in discomfort, and Rinoa was the first to react.

"What's wrong, Squall?" She got next to him in the matter of seconds. His eyes slit open and regarded her with utmost surprise before he brought his hands up to them.

Her friends snapped out of their stunned state and all circled around him with concern. Seifer took things on a lesser degree though, but he was still concerned about Squall in his own way. Selphie was especially worried, since she was guilty of whatever it was that was happening to Squall.

"What's wrong with him, Selph?" Zell asked after force-swallowing a mouth full of hotdogs. Selphie seemed just as clueless as the rest of the group.

"What was in that vial anyway?" Irvine asked cautiously, looking at the shattered bottle on the floor.

"Um … that is …" Selphie was flushed with many shades of red.

"It's …" Squall grumbled after a while, and everyone held their breath to hear his opinion about his own condition. They were all expecting something grave like his eyes hurt or worse, he was blind!

"So damn itchy." Squall finished, disappointing the group, but in a good way. They all let go of their breath and looked at the petite girl.

"Very mature, Train Girl." Seifer drawled and the blushing girl glared daggers at him.

"So it's itching water?" Quistis asked authoritatively, crossing her arms; she received a hurried nod of relief from Selphie.

"And … were you trying to use it on me?" Irvine said with caution. "Geez, that's … kinda mean, Selph. What did I do to deserve that? It's not my rhyming, is it?"

"Um …" The girl connected her forefingers together bashfully. "No, silly. I got it from Trabi and I thought it would be kinda … funny?"

Irvine stared at his girlfriend in wonder as the rest of the group, minus Squall and Rinoa, shook their head tiredly. What an untimely joke.

No, Selphie was too ... keen on getting the liquid onto Irvine to just be joking. There was definitely something; Rinoa decided to let it go though. She needed to get Squall to the infirmary first.

"Squall, don't rub your eyes and keep them shut, okay?" She said as she pulled him up from his seat slowly. "Let's go see Dr. Kadowaki." Then, she turned to her friends. "If you guys finish and we aren't back yet then you don't have to wait for us." Chances are, the itching could be a prelude to something much worse.

* * *

><p>She had her hands wrapped around his arm and was leading him to the infirmary. On the way, many curious pairs of eyes followed them; some girls looked on in envy while some guys snickered at them. Even if it was quite uncomfortable to be the center of attention, she tried to not mind them by thinking about how Squall had to deal with people looking at him everyday.<p>

"Do we look _that_ strange?" Squall suddenly asked; he must have heard the snickering. Well, the other kids weren't exactly secretive when discussing about them anyway. But then … Squall was starting a conversation! With her! Was the world coming to an end?

She was staring at him when he turned to her; although his eyes were still closed, she was sure he was meaning to look at her.

"What? Why did we stop?" He seemed confused.

Rinoa realized the she had unconsciously stopped and hastily resumed walking. She swiftly instructed him that they were going to turn right and they kept walking in silence.

"You didn't answer me." He said, obviously bothered by the still ongoing echoes of debates from people around them.

"Well, yes, we do look quite strange, I believe." Rinoa answered truthfully; she was still surprised that Squall was actually pursuing a conversation. "Try imagining the idol of the school being led by some random girl with his eyes tightly shut for no apparent reason. If that doesn't raise a comment or two then I don't know what would."

Unexpectedly, she was jerked back; Squall had stopped his pace and his firm stance left her no way of pulling him along.

"Um, Squall?" She didn't really understand what was going on in his head; he was acting very strange. Wasn't he in a hurry to treat his eyes? Why did he stop here? Then she noticed that they were already standing in front of the infirmary. _'Oh …'_ She nodded with embarrassment. "Sorry, my bad."

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

What did he mean, _Why_? He was really confusing her now. Rinoa tried to guess what he might have implied but nothing came to mind so she decided to answer normally. "Well, we've already reached the infirmary, I never realized that until you pointed it out." Rinoa habitually used hand gestures to talk, forgetting that he couldn't actually see her.

"… We're at the infirmary?" Squall said with genuine cluelessness. To say Rinoa was surprised was just making it light, she was speechless. What _had_ he stopped for, then? This was really strange, what _could_ have made him care enough to stop?

"Didn't you stop because you knew we'd arrived?" She asked incredulously.

"Whatever." He grunted, telling her the conversation was over. This was one of his traits that pissed her off the most. He always got away with _everything_ with his uncaring attitude and his _whatever-s_.

'_I never took you for the hot and cold type.'_ Rinoa rolled her eyes as she led the brunette inside the infirmary. The room was empty; it seemed even the doctor was having her lunch. _'What do I do now?'_

"Squall, Dr. Kadowaki's not here." She said as she helped him locate his seat and sit down. "How are you eyes? Do they hurt?"

She saw his jaw working, trying to form some sort of reply. Really, was answering to a question of concern that hard for him?

"They're … fine." He finally said, opening his eyes. They were a bit red; whether it was because of the itching water or his lack of sleep was debatable. But … he was staring at her again. And in his thoughtful gaze had a soft hint of … confusion.

* * *

><p>That evening, he sat alone in his room. Nothing much had happened since the events during lunch, but he was tired from all of his thinking. He had been going through things over and over in his head. It wasn't like he cared, but she was demeaning herself too much.<p>

She seemed to think he didn't like her. Well, she was wrong. He just didn't like her _being clingy_, but she had never done that so of course she was perfectly in the safe zone. Yes, he never liked girls her type, they were annoying and too meddlesome for their own good. But there could be exceptions to everything, and he didn't mind her. She was different; she wasn't just _some random girl_. She had a position in his life; she was Rinoa Heartilly, his _friend_. He never showed it, but he actually held his friends in very high regards, with Seifer on a lesser degree though.

The frustrated brunette stood up from the chair and dropped onto the bed next to it. He stared at the ceiling meditatively. He wasn't supposed to care but … this feeling inside his chest was bothering him. A few moments of complete silence, even his mind was practically blank. Then, he picked up his phone and dialed a number he had long memorized. He lifted the phone and pressed it to his ear, waiting. After a few rings, the line was picked up.

"Hiya, Squall." An excited voice greeted him. "Do you need something, son?" It was Laguna, his father, though after seventeen years of his life, he still very much doubted their blood connection.

"About the information you needed," he ignored the man's words and got right down to business. "I might be able to get it."

"Really?" Laguna changed his tone to a more serious one. "When, and more importantly, how?"

"Just send me the details of what need to be researched." With that he hung up.

He looked at the screen of his phone, aimlessly ran his thumb over its smooth surface. After much thinking about what he had decided to do, Squall then quickly located Selphie's number in his phonebook.

"Oh, hi Squall!" The perky girl chirped enthusiastically. "Is there something? Make it quick, the party isn't gonna prepare itself, you know." It was the first day and A wing was already having a party? Well, not that he cared.

"I'm going to Dollet." He made it quick, just like she wanted.

Silence commenced. Squall was wondering if the line had been disconnected when suddenly ...

"What!" Selphie shouted in disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait. Squall, _you're_ going? _You?_" Her voice had a faint pitch of suspicion. "Why? How? Are you … feeling alright?"

What was that supposed to mean? "Yes, I'm going." He rolled his eyes. "Laguna's stuff."

"… Do you _really_ have work there?" She wasn't convinced, her tone said it all.

Why did it even matter? She wanted him to make it quick but she was just dragging the conversation longer than needed.

"Whatever. Just sign me up." Squall growled into the phone and hung up.

So, he was going to Dollet, despite how bothersome the trip might turn out to be. Oh well, it was because of work. He shook his head and threw his phone onto the table nearby with astounding accuracy.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Rant:<strong> I've just finished my exams! Yay!

**Seifer:**** Oh, is that why you're whacked? Such a tearjerker.**

Shut up, Tonberry King.

**Seifer: You friggin' writer-wannabe …**

**Rinoa: Go away, Seifer. This is between me and her! Nighthill, why do I _always _have to play the role of a damsel in distress?**

Psh, duh, you are created just for that. Unless you become a Sorceress, you can't be an 'angel with shining white wings' to save your 'knight in shining armor' from … Did I mention that this story has no antagonists?

**Raze: No, you didn't. _I_ did. Right, Rinoa?**

**Squall: -Since when did OCs get to be in these rants?- *stands protectively behind Rinoa***

**Rinoa: Oh, right, right. That too! What _was _that? I know this is suppose to be a funny story, but spelling out that this is in fact a _story_ is just ridiculous! How was I suppose to answer to that?**

**Raze: You never responded to my statement anyway. And in any case, I blame Hilly.**

Hm? Who's Hill- ... Hecatomb, don't give me silly nicknames.

**Raze: Then don't give me gruesomely grotesque surnames.**

... I hate witty characters. Seifer is so much easier to bully.

**Seifer: You ...**

Okay, I just can't seem to find the right time to stop, so this chapter rivals the last chapter in length. But I hope this one is more fun to read. At least I think it's a bit funnier. Maybe … Oh well, let me know what you think.

By the way, those who don't read Last Day - my other story might be confused by this rant. So, Raze's surname is Hecatomb, which is indeed _quite_ peculiar.


	4. Bottoms Up!

Okay, this has taken a while to complete but I hope you find the wait worth it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter III: Bottoms Up!<strong>

Inside the trash land that was her room, Rinoa stood staring at the creature on the desk - _her _desk, sadly.

The room was taking longer to clean than she thought; it was nearing night but she didn't see herself sleeping in the place anytime soon. Although the beer cans and sandwiches, as well as balls of paper, had all been thrown away, the smears and stains were still there. The electric fan was running at full speed in the attempt to get rid of the stench, yet it was still there. She had even discovered several curious piles of icky liquids underneath the bed. She was also tempted to burn the bed sheet that had turned yucky yellow, but she knew better. Not only would she get punished for supposedly destroying school's property, she might be put on probation for arson if things went out of control. And the last thing she needed was the school contacting her parents, who were probably halfway around the world right now. Bottom line, it would be more trouble than it was worth.

There was a medium-sized wardrobe near the foot of the bed, which she had discovered to be the source of the awful smell. She still hadn't found the courage to actually open it, afraid that she would find a miniature Malboro inside - or at least something close to it. After six hours of trying to get things organized, she had realized that this room had more to clean than meets-the-eye. The more she looked around, the more garbage and dirt showed themselves. She couldn't help but feel that she would never be able to get the place cleaned.

As much as she didn't want to deal with the spider, she knew she had to sooner or later. And right now, she couldn't bear to leave it there anymore. When she was in the bathroom, Seifer had taken the chance to sneak into her room and flipped the dead spider over so that it looked like it was alive and standing. Just by looking at it, she couldn't shake off the feeling that the hairy insect would jump at her if she turned her back to it, and she _needed _to turn her back to it so that she could clean the rest of the room.

Rinoa crossed her arms and shifted her weight, still staring at the spider. She tried to assure herself that nothing would happen, but every look only confirmed her fear of the arachnid. Why did things have to turn out like this? _'I really should start locking my door.'_ She thought, reminding herself that she was no longer living at home. And right, either it was since last year or just now, Seifer had also sabotaged the lock to her door … just terrific. If she reported this then she might just get the blame all onto herself.

With a final grumble, she unfolded her arms and reached back to take a paper bag which she hadn't used yet; her eyes never left the spider. She quickly spread the bag out and approached the insect. Every step triggered more and more of her senses, readying herself for any form of danger. She couldn't help a small part of her that was laughing at her own cowardice. _'Come on, Rinoa. It's a __**dead**__ spider, what could it possibly do to you?'_ She tried to think encouragingly and pushed on.

Just as she was about to bring the bag down on the spider, she saw its leg twitched and its figure retracted in a fraction of an inch. In a millisecond, her eyes widened and she bounced backwards with pure instinct as the spider suddenly launched itself right passed her shoulder. She let out a horrified yell and sprang to a side, throwing the paper bag towards the spider. It never hit the stampeding insect and Rinoa frantically tiptoed in a circle, trying to avoid the spider.

She grabbed the bed sheet, the nearest thing she could reach, and pulled it down onto the hairy monstrosity. Then, she took the chance and pranced to the door, slamming it shut the moment she got outside.

Leaning back against the door that had separated her from the nightmarish room, she panted heavily; her heart was pumping with fright. She let out a small whimper and slowly slid down to the floor. Her mind took time to register what had happened.

The spider, which was supposed to be dead, was moving - running _and _jumping … Rinoa hugged herself as cold chills ran down her spine. She couldn't believe she had been so close to a _living_ spider. So … Seifer never went into her room to flip the thing over, _it_ flipped _itself_. She now learned that assuming could be very dangerous. _'For once he's not the cause of my misery.'_ She mused sarcastically and choked out a wry smile.

Frustrated, that was what she was feeling. It was only the first day of her dormy life and so much was unpleasant. Maybe it was because she had tried to stand up to Seifer, maybe it was because she had tried to change her life. But then … if she hadn't fought back then what would have been different? Her dorm room had been decided since summer, her bedroom had already been trashed last year. Change or no change, she was bound to be bullied. Maybe … this was for the best.

Rinoa ran hands through her messy hair and sighed. There was no describing her disgruntlement, it was so unfair! As she mentally cursed a certain person, she heard the sound of door opening. From behind the wall between the two rooms emerged a smirking blond; a couple of wine glasses and a brand new bottle of alcohol - the high quality type - was in one of his hands. She was surprised, seeing how Seifer had went from cheap beer cans to first grade wine, but she wouldn't be so stupid as to ask him. Considering how he was in such a good mood, he would definitely rub it in her face even if she didn't ask.

Sure enough, the blond immediately made his way towards her the moment he saw her in this comical state of withdrawal. He shot a glance at her belongings that were still outside, in a corner and snickered loudly, obviously trying to rile her.

"Hey there, cutie." He stooped down before her and tapped at her cheek. Seifer was always tapping and slapping and pinching and … _everything_ with her face. What was his problem? She hated him touching her! She hated how she kept amusing him even when she was so angry. Rinoa glared at him, to which he only chuckled.

"You're not jealous, are you?"

Rinoa rolled her eyes at the question and brushed his hand away. "Why should I?" She pushed herself up and walked to the table, trying to conceal her nervousness. She always lost all of her courage every time she was pitched against Seifer, this _fact _aggravated her. He was like some sort of phobia to her.

By concentrating on the empty beer cans on the table, she allowed herself a swift moment of facing away from him. After feeling a tad more secure, she turned back to the blond and crossed her arms to give herself more confidence. Seifer looked at her and folded his arms also, an amused expression was evident on his face as he took slow steps towards her. The girl didn't move from her spot, not because she was brave enough to confront him, but simply because she was scared witless. She couldn't think up a better course of action other than bracing herself for anything he might throw at her.

"I don't know," he walked right into her personal space and bent down at her. As his face inched closer and closer, her body froze and her mind was in complete chaos. She had to try her hardest to keep herself from cringing under his frame. Seifer's nose stopped just centimeters away from hers, and he said with his trademark smirk. "Maybe because I don't have a dump as my room." His smug voice brought up a new wash of anger in her.

"Oh, so you _do _realize it's a land of garbage in there." She snapped back, frowning. "You're such a …" She searched her mind for another word other than _Meanie_. That word would be too light for the likes of him."Tonberry!" She sputtered out the only insult she could come up with, and she regretted it. Not only the insult never got to him, it even served as a great source of laughter for him. She could feel the heat accumulating at her cheeks as his cackling resounded in the room.

"Well, pity. Even Tonberrys choose the _King _of GFs' place to live." Seifer said after he finished his irritating laugh, ruffling her hair violently. From his lips, she could no longer smell the sickening alcohol but instead was a cool breath of peppermint. The blond then, to her surprise, brought his free hand down to her forehead and pinched slightly just above the bridge of her nose, clicking his tongue. "No, no, you'll get a very ugly wrinkle this way."

She had been frozen by his approach before, but now, she was _petrified _by his touch. It wasn't like he had never touched her before, in fact, he had touched her way too much to her liking. It was the sentence that came with his action that made her perplexity. The guy who had mercilessly used permanent markers on her _face_ was _worried_ about how she could get a wrinkle? Technically, he wasn't worried, but for him to say it, even just by a whim, gave her a very … strange feeling.

Before she could fully understand what was happening, Seifer abruptly pulled back and held out the wine glasses and bottle to her in a cheering manner. "And apparently, Quistis _loves_ Tonberrys. Says they're cool or something like that. Guess now I know why." His voice had an annoyingly punctuated tone as he waltzed pass her, and she inwardly let out a sigh of relief. It seemed she was off the hook. Rinoa pivoted her head; her gaze following him as she realized something.

"… Wait," she said, halting him in his path. "You … Isn't A wing partying right now?"

"Ah, yes. _Ex-_actly." Seifer snapped his fingers and triumphantly pointed at her. "She has never been a partygoer. So I, as the kind and chivalrous person that I am, will come to her in lonely time." He held up the wine bottle carefully, placing a kiss on its surface. "Scored." He shot Rinoa a meaningful look and left before she could give another comment on the matter.

She stood slack jawed, staring at the closed door; her hands on the table to support herself up. _'This isn't right-'_ Unexpectedly, the door opened once again and Seifer poked his head inside. She raised one eyebrow at him confusedly, what was it that he wanted now? With a smirk, he wasted no time to answer her unsaid question. "If you can't wrap things up with your room, we can always share mine."

The second the meaning of his sentence struck her, her face flushed with many shades of red. It must have been quite obvious since Seifer burst out laughing at her expression. On the spur of a moment, she snatched a beer can lying near her hand and threw it at him. With his lightning fast reflex, he easily deflected the impromptu weapon by closing the door. Rinoa grabbed another can and readied to hurl it at his cocky face if he even dared to show to her it again. She stayed in her position for a whole long minute, before realizing that the blond had left for good. She sighed and placed the can down dispiritedly.

Pulling a chair out, she sat down and started rubbing her forehead. Why was she so easily angered by him? Anything he did would induce some sort of reaction from her, big or small, and she hated it. She knew that he found enjoyment from jerking her around, but she didn't know how to make it uninteresting for him. He was always sarcastic and had a twisted way of humoring himself, and sadly, however she chose to react only made him more motivated in bullying her.

She let out another sigh and looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly ten, the party in A wing was about to start. Selphie had invited her like the girl had promised in the morning. Well, no use moping around. Yes, she had recovered quite fast, unlike somebody she knew, who was always brooding alone in a corner. Rinoa found herself smiling at the mental image of her _friend_, and she proceeded to change out of her sweaty clothes. When she was done, she realized something … something very devastating. Her shoes had been left inside the trash land … Terrific.

* * *

><p>There was a party, and the atmosphere in A wing didn't put shame to the word. Everyone was enthusiastically preparing for the <em>super-duper-mega-new-year celebration<em>, as Selphie has insisted on naming it. There was everything you'd expect from a party: lights, dance music, food, and drinks - especially drinks. It seemed they all were keen on getting hangovers right after the first day; where the logic was in that, she didn't know. Was there something fun in indulging oneself in alcoholic drinks and then let loose of one's sanity? If there was, Quistis Trepe didn't see it. Having received home education up until her high school day, maybe her view of things was different, but she couldn't help questioning if that was the only reason.

Quistis walked pass the scattered crowd of females, returned a frantic wave from Selphie from afar and continued towards the exit. Perhaps she only needed to wait until she could fully accept, or at least tolerate what seemed to be teenage norms. Although she didn't see that happening anytime soon, as she had been through her first year of high school with her conception still intact. Call her old-fashioned, straitlaced or what-have-you, she just couldn't understand why adolescence had to come with partying and getting drunk.

Oh but, there was one thing that changed, and even herself would be surprised if she thought about it from time to time. And for some odd reason, the thoughts would put a small smile on her lips.

"Oh, come on! Let me in!" A familiar male voice exclaimed with frustration, catching her attention. It was Seifer, who was being blocked by some girls in charged of keeping unwanted guests out.

"Sorry, unless you're invited by one of our girls, you can't go in." One of the girls was doing a very good job at forbidding the blond's entrance.

Seifer hands were all busied with a bottle of wine and two flutes; she could see the guy had had their night all planned out. With a soft sigh that resembled a smile, Quistis strode up to the group. She should intervene before her blond loses his nearly volatile patience. "As a matter of fact, I _am _invited," he said smugly. "You must be new. Everyone knows that my fucking girl is here."

"Yes, well, Seifer." She stepped between him and the girls before they could say anything back. Seifer was beginning to use expletives, that either meant he was elate or he was getting cranky. And she doubted it was the former. "_Your_ girl doesn't appreciate being referred to with that kind of language."

"Right, right," he waved his hand that was holding the wine bottle, obviously showing off what he had prepared. Well, he _did _go the distance: from cheap beer to expensive wine. "So is the lady gonna invite her man in?"

This guy here was her big change. One year ago, if someone had told her that she would befriend a delinquent, she would have laughed at them - metaphorically, since she simply didn't laugh. But now, let alone befriending, she found herself in a romantic relationship with a certain delinquent. With him, she discovered emotions she had never felt before; they were subtle but sweet enough to make butterflies soar in her stomach. Although he aggravated her with his arrogance and sarcasm, she couldn't help being attracted to the much gentler and more caring side of him. Yes, she realized those adjectives were awkward-sounding on Seifer; he had a fine way of distracting others from noticing his good side.

Quistis saw his confident smirking face and knew that she had failed to put on a disapproving frown; her subconscious smile at him had only stroked his ego even further. She turned to the girls and said in gentle dismissal. "Don't worry, he's with me." She tried to act normal as she was faced with three besotted expression staring dreamily at her and gestured for Seifer to follow her. Not wanting to entertain other people with any kind of scene with the blond, she hurried back the way she had come from. She didn't turn back to check if he was behind her or not, because he was likely to go at his own pace, and he knew exactly where to find her.

As Seifer walked pass the _female guards_, one of them suddenly said. "I … I'm so jealous! Alone with Ms Trepe … Oh how I love thee Ms. Trepe, I cannot sleep at night thinking of your radiating beauty, that is why I am always falling asleep in class ... Oh, how sinful you are ..." The poetic remark pinned him to the spot, and he spun around to face the threesome. The poet was obviously the girl with the thin ponytail. Noticing his attention, the shorthaired girl added in. "Hey, you better show some courtesy to Ms. Trepe!"

'… _Trepies? For real? I thought Chickenwuss was only cuckooing when he said there was a Quistis's FC.' _He crossed his arms and looked at the girls with unease. "You … you're not freshmen, are you?"

"No, we are." Ponytail said matter-of-factly. "We fell in love with Ms. Trepe since middle school, Hyne was so kind to let us enroll in the same school as her. I've heard rumors, but confirming that she has such a jerk as friend-"

"_Boyfriend_." He corrected quickly.

"Whatever!" The two girls spat in chorus. "We see no difference."

"Touché," Seifer quipped, using the flutes in his hand to regard the two girls. "Shorthair, Ponytail, you Leonhart's disciples or something?"

"_As if_! I don't see how others could worship him, he screams trouble from a mile away." Shorthair flung her hands into the air to emphasize her point and turned back outside, deciding to get on with her guarding job. "By the way, it's Zara. _Not_ Shorthair!"

"Beatriz." The ponytail girl followed up and turned away also.

The blond scratched the back of his head, still found it unbelievable that he had exchanged such idiocy with girls he barely knew - and that the Trepies actually existed. His eyes drifted to the third girl with wavy long hair, who had stayed silent throughout the whole conversation. She seemed like the cutesy type, that however, the way she was staring at him was nothing short of scary. The girl didn't even blink, and he felt eerily unnerved.

"What? You have something to say then spit it out!" Seifer snapped impatiently. "Don't tell me your name is Tawny or-"

"It is." She answered simply and he blinked, his mouth fell open. Her name was actually Tawny? He was going to ask if she was for real when the girl continued. "Are you giving Ms. Trepe trouble? Up until now, you have made Ms. Trepe angry thirty-four times, let her down five times and stood her up _twice_ …"

He stared back at the girl in horror, backing away a few steps. The wine bottle and glasses were beginning to feel slippery in his grip as his hands dampened. _'What the- how the fuck did she know? Has she been spying on us? No, no, this is ridiculous! Even __**I **__don't know when Quistis is truly mad.' _Seifer tried to assure himself that the doll face was only bluffing, after all, the numerical count was very doubtful. But then … _'I really did stand her up twice …'_

"I-I see." He mumbled lamely.

"Should anything happen to Ms. Trepe, the Trepies will get you back!"

* * *

><p>Rinoa warily walked along the dark hallway of A wing. It was already way passed curfew, and the place was dimly lit only by the moonlight. In the darkness, she could make out small groups of people gathering together with packs and packs of beer cans. And well, since this was a boy's dorm, she was sure those people were all guys. Some of them were already drawling and staggering, which only made her more cautious.<p>

She never thought wandering around a foreign place filled with drunk guys in the night would be this scary. Her clothes weren't very revealing, if at all. From the knowledge she had about clothing, shirts and long jeans were never the epitome of revealing. Still, their curious gazes plastered all over her, and all their whisperings were about why a girl would be here. They weren't the most uncivilized bunch she had ever seen but their overall assumptions of her just weren't very nice. She really wanted to give those boys a taste of what she had learned in self-defense, but remembering she had never been the best fighter, she chose to let it go in dismissal.

'_Maybe … I should've listened to Mr. Night.' _She thought nervously, stepping back from the three figures standing in her way. Her throat nearly produced a whimpering sound, but she held it in just in time. It wasn't a good idea to let them know she was afraid … but on a second thought, maybe they had already known from her body language.

"W-what?" She asked, hoping the boys wouldn't notice her stuttering. But that chance was as slim as a ray of sunlight during Trabian winter. The three guys broke out laughing in the maniacal way that Seifer had before; was that how all boys reacted to alcohol, she wondered. They swiftly exchanged words within themselves, snickering in the process, before turning back to her.

"Aw, she's scared, guys." Said the shortest guy of the three, his voice had an irritating pitch.

"Don't be, cutie." Another guy, who was just sitting peacefully on the floor just moments ago, shot up from his position and joined in; his voice was loud, as if he was trying to gather more participants in this game of cornering. "It's not like big brothers here will eat you up or anything."

'_Oh, come on.'_ Rinoa mentally rolled her eyes. _'I'm __**know**__ some of you are one year my junior.'_

His hollering was answered with many whistles and howls coming from every direction. It seemed he had successfully gained the attention and support from every guy in presence. Rinoa was truly in a pinch now. She had never been in this type of situation before, surrounded by boys with literally nowhere to run to. Drunkards with hardly an iota of sanity left were scattered along the hallway as far as she could see into the darkness, and she noticed two more figures were sauntering her way from afar, shading her view of her only exit.

These guys didn't seem like they would listen to reasoning anymore, and the way they were circling Rinoa made her nothing but a cornered prey. She fought a mental battle between the choices of running away and screaming for help, but could hardly concentrate her thoughts to come to a decision. Rationality told her there was a reason why people never tried to run straight passed a horde of laggard corpses in those zombie movies, and considering how the males around her were so close to those carrions, she wasn't about to make such an obvious mistake. Should she call for help, then? More importantly, would anyone come to her rescue _soon enough_? Because the moment she starts a racket, the boys will most likely silence her right away without much ado. Wasn't there anyone here that she knew and could help her?

'_Mr. Night …'_ she cried under her breath. The reliable teacher popped up in her mind immediately. If he hears her call for help, or anyone's really, surely he will come. But the problem here was _if_. For all she knew, the blond man could be sleeping soundly in his room, not a care about the silent party the F-wing boys were having and sadly, not a clue about the ordeal the girl under his supervision was in.

Just then, she was torn away from her thoughts as a guy grabbed her from behind and snuggled at her neck. The suddenness brought a scream right through her lips, which had been carefully knitted shut up until now. Hearing her frightened voice seemed to encourage them more, and they began a heated discussion about something. She was too scared to understand what was spoken between them, but a part of her hinted that any comprehension of their exchanges now would only make her valiant, which was already near naught, plummet even further.

In vain she tried to wriggle herself from the foreign presence existing so contemptibly close to her. His snickering brought disgusting breaths to her nose, and her ears were filled with haunting banters. There was a block inside her throat, refusing to let her vocal cord vibrate so that she could produce a simple yell. Was the event from four years ago going to happen all over again … and take a turn for much worse? Squall was somewhere in this wing also, he could very well be quietly sipping beer at a corner somewhere, completely turning a blind eye to her difficulty. That would be quite easy for someone as uncaring as him.

The thought angered her; it gave her a newfound source of strength as she shoved the guy behind her away. Bad move, she realized. Her spontaneous retaliation acted as a trigger for the other guys to join in, and she was utterly dumbstruck as two of them nailed her against the wall.

"My, she's a feisty one." She heard a voice commented.

"Reminds me of a chick I banged." Another slurred. "Literally, though." And they all howled out with laughter once again.

Rinoa paled at the notion. For someone who was drunk, he had quite a brain for words. She didn't know which one was worse, literally or in slang. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the two guys, who she had seen walking from afar, had now arrived at the circle of their own kind and was trying to find out what was drawing so much attention. She knew it was them because she had noticed the obvious difference in height between those two; one boy was very short and the other was quite the contrast. There was no hope of any of her friends are here, it seemed. No Zell, no Irvine. She didn't know about Squall and Seifer … the mere thought that the blond might come to her rescue nearly made her laugh, if she had any mirth for the action right now.

"Hey, hey," yet another unfamiliar voice spoke up, and the crowd around her dispersed lightly to let the taller one of the newcomers in. When the boy finally managed to stand in front of her, he lightly tapped on the guys who was pinning her to the wall. "Okay, stop, stop … I said _stop_." Every noise ceased for a moment before bursting out again, this time whiny and unenthusiastic, mumbling discontentedly about the blatant interruption.

"You okay?" The tall guy said, pulling Rinoa out of the subconsciously loosened grasps of the others. Even when she was still having trouble registering what was going on, a relief was rushing inside her, because at least someone was decent _and _sober enough to save her. "Not cool, guys. _Not_ cool! She's my girl." Her heart fell and her body stiffened as the guy pulled her close into a hug, placing a slight kiss near the corner of her mouth. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, that what it was. She had _probably_ escaped a bunch of wolves … only to fall into the arms of a coyote, who had enough confidence to outright steal the others' fun - that should say something about him.

In response to his declaration was a mixture of dissatisfied growls and boos, but everyone was completely passive about objecting the guy's want. Some of them were whisperings and pointing at the short guy that had been standing nonchalantly at the peripheral. Funny. They were too drunk to realize the obscenity of sexual harassment but were still sober enough to quail before an influential presence. _'Surprise, surprise.'_ She thought sardonically before turning her attention back to the tall guy.

'_So he's only relying on his friend's notoriety.'_ She would have expected him, who was attempting to swipe her away, to have more of a backbone. Nonetheless, she was being led out from the suffocating circle of drunkards. She wordlessly complied with the stranger's control, playing along with his bluff. As far as she planned, fleeing from two guys was far easier than a bunch of them.

But … the guy was tall, hence had long legs that may catch up to her dozens of steps with a few strides. His short friend followed him closely and was shooting watchful glances at her. His strong hand, as if readied for her escape, had such a tight hold on her shoulder. He was pressing her to his chest so firmly and intimately that it was hard enough to walk properly, much less run.

When they turned around the corner of the hallway, she decided that it was far enough. Determined on bolting away, she was about to resort to biting, elbowing, shin-kicking, foot-stomping, … whatever it took to extricate herself and make the grand escape, when the guy unexpectedly released his grasp and turned to face her. "Okay, we're safe. Good job, you improvised very well." He sounded very satisfied, showing her his thumb.

Rinoa blinked, a lot more surprised than she showed, maybe the scare just now had frozen her face. She really didn't expect to be rescued after that kiss at the corner of her mouth. Now that she thought about it, he could have easily gone for her lips, but he didn't. So … he was putting up an act?

"Sheesh, what are you doing in a boy's dorm anyway?" The tall boy took note of her spaced-out expression and snapped his fingers. "Oh, oh. I see." He said with mock accusation, placing a hand to his chest melodramatically. "You thought I was just another pervert, didn't you? Well, geez, I'm hurt."

"You _could_ have given her a heads-up, idiot." The short boy raised his voice for the first time, his deep voice bearing a strange ring to it. And she noticed he was even shorter than her! By a head, too! Maybe, she didn't need to worry about her own height after all. Catching her stare, the boy grimaced and grumbled almost ominously. "Got a problem with my height?" It was like he could read her mind.

"N-no, not at all." She shook her head more zealously than he would have liked: his glare at her only deepened. _'Wow, touchy much?'_

"Easy, man. She's gone through some serious trouble here." The tall boy intercepted and offered her his hand. "I'm Thanatos, sorry for the confusion. This here's Traith, he's always in a foul mood so don't take anything he says to heart, okay?"

Traith seemed very much displeased with the way he was introduced, but kept his mouth shut. In a sense, he reminded her of Squall … a more outspoken version of Squall though. She smiled inwardly at the comparison.

"Okay." Rinoa replied weakly and accepted his friendly gesture, still bewildered. Everything was happening so fast. One moment, she was hopeless with none of her friends around to help her, and the next she was already safe before she even knew it. "I'm Rinoa."

"So Rinoa, what _are _you doing here?" Thanatos folded his arms questioningly. "I'm sure I've spread enough rumors about F wing so that most girls won't even scutter near."

"What kind of rumors?" She let her curiosity get the best of her and delayed answering his inquiry.

"That it's a place for gangs and ringleaders to gather at night." The guy shared generously. "It's not true, but as you can see, on a certain level, the rumors fit." He used his thumb to point back to the groups of drunk male infesting the hallway. "They're usually not half bad, but with a few cans, they go wild."

"Oh, I've never heard any of that." She said honestly. If he had been spreading rumors then he probably wasn't very successful in proving them valid.

"Really!" The tall boy exclaimed dispiritedly. "Damn. … So, you're gonna answer me or not?" His tone suddenly became blunt and flat, leaving no room for topic-changing. She was surprised at his new attitude, but managed to summon her wits quick enough to reply.

"Right, well, you see," Rinoa dawdled for a bit, unsure of how much she should inform these new acquaintances. "Under some circumstances, I actually live here."

"What? You do?" Thanatos dropped his unfolded his arms and slapped at Traith's shoulder merrily. "See? I told you. There _is _a girl living here!"

His reaction to her nearly jaw-dropping news was a bit too calm. And it seemed he was quite well-informed of the queer fact that there was a girl living in the boy's dorm. She was never secretive about it, but she was confident that no one would know about this, at least not in less than a day. How did he come to know?

"Yes, yes. Whatever you say." Traith answered dully, turning around. "Let's go already." He didn't seem too keen on hanging around as he swiftly proceeded to walk away without waiting for his friend. Thanatos lingered a bit to shrug apologetically at her.

"Like I said, don't mind him." He said gently, pausing a bit before bending down to her eye-level and spoke in a stern tone. "And Rinoa, don't go out alone at night from now on. The hall will most likely be full of jerks like that. More earnest guys, who _might_ help you, are always indoor at this hour because they don't want trouble. You're in luck that Traith and I are outside tonight. And believe me, luck is can be _very_ whimsical. Okay?" Rinoa was quite taken aback and only replied with a nod.

"Alright! A bit late, but welcome to the wing. We're just around the block so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. We might just be more reliable than luck." He laughed heartily at his own joke and saluted her before turning away.

Rinoa slightly waved back at him, but was too late as he had already started taking large strides to catch up with his friend, leaving Rinoa standing alone in the empty part of the hallway. She retracted her hand consciously, a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.

It was a pleasant meeting, never mind its terrible prelude - and the kiss too, but that was to save her so she didn't mind it much … maybe. Anyways, she didn't see their faces very clearly, but Thanatos seemed like a nice guy and Traith, he was an interesting find, because … _'He's shorter than me!'_ She cheered silently, knowing that if the short boy knew of her thoughts, she would receive a glare that might freeze Shiva herself. Okay, she didn't mean to sound too happy about it, she still knew she her height was not something to be proud of.

Rinoa looked at her watch and gasped at how late she was for the party; Selphie would never let her hear the end of this.

* * *

><p>"I love you!" In the silence of the night, three simple, common words were pronounced. Yet, they were far from normal.<p>

Rinoa Heartilly, age seventeen, for the first time was guilty of eavesdropping. The scene that unfolded before her was one she thought could only be scene in mushy soap opera. Never in her life had she expected to see a love confession live.

She was standing surreptitiously behind a tall tree trunk, concealing her presence from two other human beings. Why did things – _disturbing _things keep happening to her, she wondered. The woman had already chosen such an obscure spot in the garden to make sure of her privacy, and yet, Rinoa still managed to _accidentally _walk by. She was beginning to suspect that she had a knack of getting herself into trouble.

'_Why? Why did I ever decide to take a shortcut?'_ She cried silently.

The conversation would soon be far too personal for an outsider such as her, and by staying there, she risked the chance of being caught. That would be very awkward and embarrassing, and she was sure she hadn't the thick skin to endure the repercussion. Moreover, she _knew_ these two people, and that would only double the shame if she was discovered listening in on their exchanges.

She should have left the two alone by now, but for some reason, she found it very hard to do so. Instead, she noticed there was a very questionable urge nagging at her to watch this confession to the end. She was prepared to risk it all; she was curious and something else, which she couldn't determined. Considering how _they_ were … faculty members, Rinoa convinced herself that _any_ student would want to see the development of this romance. _'Even Squall wouldn't be able to resist!'_ … Alright, fine, that was a bit farfetched.

Rinoa snaked her body along the width of the tree and peeked a glance at the two adults, making sure that she wasn't hallucinating. But then again, hallucinations didn't include sound effects, and the _I love you _sentence sounded pretty real to her. No, she wasn't seeing or hearing things; they were there, eyes still locked with each other's. Even though it was quite dark, with only the moonlight illuminating the place, she could still make out the said faculty members. It was Ms. Lunacrast, the dorms manager, who had declared her love; her mane of lush obsidian hair was unmistakable. And the object of her affection was none other than Mr. Nightsphere, or Mr. Night for short. So, okay, she admitted that she got nosy because her favorite teacher was involved.

Seeing this love confession surprised Rinoa on so many levels. When she had watched those two converse this morning, she had had a hunch there was something between those two. At least, she thought they were way passed the point of confessing. But this … they hadn't gotten _anywhere_! It seemed even adults moved slowly in this sophisticate matter called love.

This love declaration was, however, different from what she had gathered from the many romances she had read. Ms. Lunacrast wasn't blushing or showing any hint of reservation, instead she was confident – demanding even. As for Mr. Night, cool and composed as he was, Rinoa could still tell he was deeply bothered. This confession didn't seem like it would end happily.

The dark-haired girl observed the situation intensely and tried to guess what would be her homeroom teacher's reply. He didn't seem like he was very enthusiastic about this whole ordeal, but knowing him, he might just say yes to not break the woman's heart. That … induced a bad churn inside Rinoa's stomach and made her crane further around her hideout, resolved to not miss a thing. She saw him shifted his stance and his jaw worked. He was going to answer! Her heart beat faster and faster, her fingers dug into the rough bark as she anticipated the worse possible outcome.

Night had spent his years knowing Lilith with a platonic relationship. He knew the small girl from his past had kept her feelings for him into womanhood, he knew she saw him more than a friend and had long since drawn the line. He appreciated that she had always respected his wish. So why now did she bring this up when he thought she had already gotten over him? How could she say those three words, with their deep meaning, along with the wish for closeness and intimacy, to him? Was she still trying to back him into a corner knowing it was futile?

"I know, Lilith. I know, but I can't return your feelings. And _you _know that." Night said accusingly, bracing himself for any kind of outburst from the woman. Growing up by her side had taught him Lilith was very hard to predict. She was a very proud woman of the Lunacrast house, she wouldn't let anything get to her composure, but in the most unexpected of time she could break down and cry just like an ordinary female.

"You're saying I don't have a chance?" Lilith fumed; it seemed she had chosen to be aggressive this time around. "You _never _give me any! Why can't it be me? You even opened your heart to that-"

"You're being repetitive. Don't drag her into this, I told you she's like a sister!" He said harshly, wagging a finger at her in warning. He didn't mean to lash out, but the woman was just being unreasonable. She had to know when to give up and … give the other man a chance. _She_ was the one who needed to give others chances, not him.

Lilith opened her small pair of lips to say something, but stopped and walked towards him. He stood still, arms crossed, waiting to see what she had in mind. Maybe a slap, maybe a grab at his shirt collar - she had a record of being quite violent at times. When her petite body was only few centimeters away from his, she brought her hands up to his neck, so it was the collar after all. However, she lifted them passed his neck and suddenly, her movements were lightning fast as she knitted her fingers behind his skull and abruptly fell back. Her hands hooked to the back of his head and pulled him down with her, it was mere reflex that his arms spread out to cushion himself from the fall.

He was lying on top of her and she had a devilishly satisfied smile on her pale face. "Lilith …" He mumbled disapprovingly as his brows met, still couldn't believe she had resorted to this kind of cheap trick. If anyone saw this now …

"Ouch!" A feminine voice accompanied by rustlings pulled at his attention, and he snapped his head towards the direction of the noise. What he saw made his eyes went wide and his body taut. His student's, Rinoa's head was protruding from a dark bush to his left. Her brown, bewildered orbs locked with his and her flustered face quickly turned beat-red.

"Ah … I …" She stuttered, scrambling up and out of the bush, hastily ran hands through her hair to smoothen the many knots. "I'm sorry." He noticed Lilith's grasp had been loosened and immediately pushed himself up and away from her, his eyes never leaving Rinoa.

"Ms. Heartilly, what are you doing here at this hour?" Lilith said quite coolly, placing her hands onto her hips. She really was only hiding her embarrassment; to the woman, being caught doing something so bold and out of character must have been mortifying. "You do realize it's passed curfew."

"… I was only …" Rinoa hesitated; she couldn't say that she was going to a party now, could she? _'Great, bad impression right from the first day.'_ She cringed at the thought. Realizing she was stalling for too long, she connected the tips of her fingers nervously and said with sad humor. "I was staying up passed curfew?"

Ms. Lunacrast looked at her searchingly, deep azure eyes were almost scorching. "It's the party, isn't it?" The manager asked out of nowhere, surprising her greatly. The woman then proceeded to gave Mr. Night a reproachful glance and turned on her heels. "Night, keep in mind that this conversation isn't over." And she promptly disappeared from behind the layer of trees, leaving her and Mr. Night behind with a very awkward atmosphere.

The silence stretched. She stared back at the blond teacher, sweats damped the back of her neck. He brought a hand across his chest and gripped at his shoulder, a habit he had when he was perplexed. Rinoa was wondering how much longer would this go on when the man proved himself to be the adult and broke the silence. "Sorry that you have to witness such a scene, Rinoa." His smile was somewhat strained as he reduced the distance between them.

"Ah! N-no problem!" She jumped at the chance to normalize the situation. "I was just … going to the party in A wing, as Ms. Lunacrast has … said …" Her voice became small as she realized what she had said. Epic fail. Why did she mention the root of the awkwardness?

"I see," he nodded and put a hand to her back to guide her along with him. "I'm heading in that direction also, so how about we go together?"

"Okay!" She beamed.

As they walked on the gravel path, she was worried there would be another awkward silence when her teacher asked. "Rinoa, did the boys give you any trouble?" His question startled her. Memories of how she had been surrounded flooded into her and brought chills down her spine like a spider with cold legs. And right, talking about spiders … she had never gotten her shoes in the end. "And … why are you walking barefooted?" He added, seemingly had only just noticed the oddly missing footwear.

"No, they didn't. I guess I'm pretty lucky, huh?" She decided to keep him from what had actually happened and save herself from a possible lecture. To avoid further questioning about the topic, she was quick to add. "And, you know, I hate spiders."

* * *

><p>The minute he had set eyes on her, he knew that there would be a lot of competition if he were to pursue her heart. The moment she smiled at him, he understood that there was no competition at all, as she was already his. Still, other men had always lurked around the margin, bothering her with their infatuations. His duty was to keep scumbags away from her, and it was easy enough, because every guy feared his infamous skill with Hyperion. But now … how was he to stand against members of her own sex, whose love for her bordered homosexuality?<p>

"Seifer, are you listening to me?" Quistis asked, breaking him out of his own world.

"Ah, yeah … yeah I am." He smirked inanely. He was already sitting in his blonde's room, on her bed, and he was still bothered by the encounter with the rumored Trepies. His thoughts kept going back to a handful of minutes before, the event had left a sour taste in his mouth that pulled the corners of his mouth downwards. Seifer mentally shook his head to recompose himself and lifted the claret-filled glass up in a toasting manner. "To your radiating beauty that keeps me awake at night." There was no harm in quoting good literature, he mused.

Instead of her normal bashful smile in reply to his compliment, she gave a slight frown and took a sip of her own flute. "You weren't." Quistis stated. "I was talking about Rinoa."

"What about her?" He asked dutifully, his romantic mood was gone at the sound of the dark-haired girl's name.

"I don't think she realizes it, but living in a boy's dorm is a very big deal." Quistis had a worried expression as she stood up and leaned against the windowsill, her gaze scanning the quiet garden outside. After a bit, she fixated her deep blue eyes back to him. "I know there's everyone, but I'm asking you specifically to look after her. Will you do that for me?"

Look after his mortal enemy? That femme fatale? He fought hard to keep his brows apart, he couldn't show his displeasure to Quistis. "Seifer?" She voiced his name questioningly.

"… _let her down five times …"_

He could feel a soft groan brewing inside his throat, but he push it down and smirk. "Sure, count on His Highness."

* * *

><p>She bid goodbye to the retreating dark figure that was her teacher. Mr. Night said he had work in the Faculty Room so they had parted in front of A wing's entrance. On their way here, they had exchanged words about the year to come, and he had warned her yet again about how dangerous drunk boys could be. And of course, she had taken him a lot more seriously this time around.<p>

Rinoa jogged her way up to the three girls standing at the steps leading into the wing and said hello. It seemed Selphie had notified them of Rinoa's participation as them promptly ushered her inside. The scene that met her eyes was incredible. The wide, slanted dorms yard, which was skillfully secluded and shield from out side by layers and layers of trees, was crowded with scantily dressed people, male and female. And she realized her outfit was further from revealing than she thought.

Along the hallway were tables with all kinds of snacks and drinks, where everyone was chilling out and catching their breaths. But the main attraction was obviously at the middle of the yard. Watching the gyrations on the grass field, the colored lights swirled and flashed, the various effects and even smoke, she couldn't help but feel excited. Being the daughter of the great General Caraway, nightclubs were no-no's; so if anyone told her this party here rivaled a nightclub, she would definitely believe it. All the pounding, pulsing beats of music, combined with alcohol, the dancers' mood was greatly heightened and they were tempted them to engage in an even more enthusiastic record. And Rinoa felt the thrill of excitement, too.

Unexpectedly, someone jumped at her from behind and a cheery voice greeted her. "Rinny! How is my super-duper-mega-new-year celebration?" Oh, only one person could come up with a name like that. She spun around, surprised that she wasn't very surprised by her petite friend's sudden appearance. "I put extra effort in this since it's your first!" Selphie raised her voice to be heard above the music.

"It's great!" Rinoa's volume was nearly a shout. "You're the best, Selph! How does this stay a secret anyway?"

"It just does!" The small brunette cupped her hands to her mouth, looking quite proud. "Wait here okay? I'll introduce you to Ciel!" And the girl nimbly sprinted into the sea of people on the make-believe dance floor.

"Wait, who?" Rinoa was going to ask, her friend had already disappeared from sight. Ciel … Was that the name of Mr. Night's female version Selphie had mentioned this morning?

She had stood there for one minute and was feeling very irritated. The intoxicating music and lights were making her a lot less patient. Rinoa tried to tap her foot along with the beat, hoping to ease herself. Then, from the crowd, she noticed a familiar cowboy approaching her. He lifted his hat in a cliché greeting gesture and bent down to her ear. "Hey, Rinny. When did you get here? Enjoying yourself?" She knew he only did that to let her hear better, but her body still flinched upon remembering about the distasteful episode back at her wing.

"Just now! And not really!" She said loudly back at him, masking her anxiety.

"Let's hope you'll change your mind after tonight, then!" Irvine lifted her hand up and kissed at his knuckles, being his usual womanizing self. In one year, she had learned to appreciate his flirting attitude as only a friendly gesture. "Say, you seen Selph anywhere?"

"She's just gone to look for someone!" Rinoa answered, and quickly continued. She was a bit uncomfortable standing alone in the foreign atmosphere. "She'll be back shortly!"

The guy nodded and mumbled something that she couldn't make out. She observed him for a while and decided to ask. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well," he was a tad reluctant before sharing. "I still think she's mad at me, you know, the itching potion and all. Also, I noticed she hasn't been calling me Irvy for a while now. I don't know, maybe I've done something to upset her." Irvine seemed sincerely bothered as he folded his arms dispiritedly. "Ah, geez. Even Zell's hanging smoothly with a chick." He pointed to the spiky blond head at the far corner, and Rinoa's eyes widened at the small form next to the guy. "My male pride is hurt." He finished half-jokingly; his expression was so vulnerable that she felt the urge to pat his head in consolation.

"Rinny!" Selphie's familiar voice shouted, gathering both her and Irvine's attention. As she turned to face Selphie, her eyes fell onto the woman standing behind the brunette and she stared in astonishment.

A tall, slender figure; a fall of platinum hair that rivaled Mr. Night's unusual pale blond head - Selphie wasn't kidding when she said _like a feminine version of Mr. Night_. As the teacher stepped closer to Rinoa, her heart-shaped face that was obscured by the lack of proper lighting became visible, and if Rinoa was holding anything right now, she would have dropped it. A pair of ethereal irises that held the colors of the sky, an enchanting smile on full pink lips; but the most shocking feature was that …

There was no way what she was seeing was real. Rinoa's jaw dropped open, utterly flabbergasted. Imitator? Impersonator? Doppelganger? Clone? Her hypothesis was sounding more and more absurd. "M-Ms. Lunacrast?" Rinoa thought out loud - too loud. The blonde had heard her and gave a wide smile that completely distinguished herself from the scowling dorms manager.

"Oh, no. I'm Skyweaver! Celeste Skyweaver! But I'd love to be called Ciel!" She held out her hand and Rinoa subconsciously took it. _'Four handshakes in one day.' _The black-haired girl thought blankly, still recovering from her bewilderment. "I take it you've met my older twin!"

'_Twins? Right, there's that, too.' _Rinoa was a bit embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that simple explanation. She watched absentmindedly as Irvine did his usual kiss-on-the-hand with the older woman. Then, he suavely walked away with Selphie, although there was a slight protest on the perky girl's part. _'But … they have different surnames.' _She quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to get nosy. It was their family's problem, she shouldn't pry.

"Rinoa, right?" Celeste tilted her head in a smile, cupping Rinoa's hands around a transparent drink. "Selphie did her best since she said one of her best friends was participating for the first time! Please don't let her effort be wasted and enjoy the party, alright?"

'_Wow, complete opposite.'_ She marveled at the friendly version of Ms. Lunacrast and hastily replied. "S-sure!"

The blonde's hands suddenly jerked a bit as she realized something. After making sure that Rinoa had had a firm grip on the drink, Celeste excused herself to take a call. "Sorry, Rinoa! Like I said, enjoy yourself!" She waved with one hand while the other dug in her jeans pocket and pulled out a phone, putting it to her ears. "Hey, Ray! When are you coming?" And the teacher left.

Rinoa stood there, her gaze following the blonde until she was out of sight, before turning back to the drink in her hand. She brought the glass up to her nose and sniffed. Lemonade. Feeling quite thirsty herself, she downed the whole content in less than five seconds. She licked her lips, and put the glass down to a nearby table. Maybe she should join in the dancing now. Suddenly, another glass was presented in front of her. "With this and you're good to go!" A male voice said, and she realized it was Raze, the new janitor. He was flashing his eight canines unashamedly.

She took the glass and thanked him. He seemed eager to leave as he tousled her hair. "See you in there, Rinoa!" She was quickly left behind yet again, a feeling of dissatisfaction filled her as she realized everyone but her was having fun. Rinoa finished the glass in the same manner as the one before and …

The music pounded, pulsed. She closed her eyes and relished the pleasure of shaking with the beat. She discovered that she loved to dance. The way her silky wisps of hair brushed her shoulders, the way her hips swayed and her arms swirled, everything was so addictive. She danced and danced, time was lost and space was blurry. Until she suddenly lost her balance and her knees gave in. A part of her was prepared to hit the ground when she collided with a warm surface. She felt arms wrapped around her back and knees, and she was lifted up.

A man? He was carrying her through and out of the dancing crowd. What? No, she wanted to dance more!

"Rinoa, stop wriggling!" A familiar husky voice said over the loud music as the strong arms adjusted their hold on her. "You're drunk!"

"I'm not!" She mumbled, burying her head to the man's chest to contain her dizziness. "I only drank lemonade!"

"That's _vodka_ with lemonade!" He explained.

"You're leaving already? You just got here!" A different voice asked, this time a female. From her distorted vision, she could make out pale blond hair. _'Ciel?'_

"I'm taking her back to her dorm. She's in way over her head." The man replied. "You shouldn't have given so much alcoholic drinks to a first-timer."

"It was only one cup." Celeste defended.

"Oops, that makes mine her second shot." Another man said. Judging from his speech, it was probably Raze. Her head was so heavy, and her senses were shutting down on her. She kept feeling like she was slipping and clung hard to the only anchor that was the man holding her. But wait, did he say he was bringing her back to her dorm? That dorm with all the trash and filth? That dorm with a bully and a hairy creature as residents?

"No!" She exclaimed and flailed her dangling feet violently. "I don't wanna go back!" She realized it had gotten a lot quieter and her loud voice was almost deafening in her own ears.

"R-Rinoa!" The man struggled to keep his arms hooked under her. "We're here, give me your key!"

"Nooo!" She slurred and broke into tears, tightening her arms around his neck, afraid that he might drop her. "No. It's scary in there!" She hadn't finished cleaning the bed. If she went in there, only a spider would be waiting for her. When she wakes up next morning, she will only be pitched against Seifer again. She didn't want any of that. Her restraints were all gone, and she couldn't put up her strong mask anymore. She wasn't strong, why did unpleasant things keep on bothering her?

"Don't be stubborn." He said, taken aback by her sudden outburst - and most of all, her tears. He tried to soften his voice as much as possible and spoke to her. "Tell me, where's your key?"

The girl slowly calmed down and reduced to sobbing. Her voice was breaking and she muttered tiredly. "In my … bra …" She trailed off and doze into a sound sleep, leaving him petrified in the dark hallway. She hadn't finished talking, right? She misspoke … right? His hand carefully stroked down the sides of her jeans to find out that it didn't have any pockets. He swallowed and looked down to her tearstained cheeks. After much consideration, he started walking and made his way to the end of the corridor.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Rant: <strong>Hi all-

**Squall: What. The. Fuck. Was. That?**

Wow! You're actually talking? But ... What was what?

**Squall: Who was the asshole carrying Rinoa to his room?**

Who knows, could be you.

**Squall: Cut the crap! _I_ know it wasn't me. I was watching from the sideline.**

If you were watching then why didn't you stop him, whoever he is?

**Squall: _You _didn't let me! I wasn't even in the chapter!**

Oh, right, right, my bad.

**Squall: Nighthill, I swear. If anything happens to her ...**

*gulps*

**Rinoa: *mumbles* I love you, Squall. *mumbles***

**Squall: *turns beat-red and looks away* Whatever. -Watch what you write, Nighthill.-**

Phew, Rinoa rules. XD

Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter.


	5. Blame the Alcohol

Well, well, guess I'm on a roll over here. XD Enjoy the chapter and ... don't expect another update soon, really. I gotta concentrate on Last Day.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter IV: Blame the Alcohol<strong>

He sat torpidly at the foot of his bed, feeling strangely irritated. His eyes bloodshot and unfocused due to yet another sleepless night. What was wrong with him? Even with the help of what seemed like a gallon worth of alcohol, he still turned and tossed throughout the whole night. The digital clock on his nightstand was blinking at five nineteen. Weak daylight was seeping into his room through the thinly curtained window, emphasizing what his clock was saying. He growled out loud and fell back onto his bed, hands wiped up his face slowly and stopped at his eyes to sooth the burning feeling. His lids were so damn thankful for the rest they were given, but the pounding hurt of a hangover refused to let him ease. Not that he could sleep anyway. He had too much on his mind.

His thoughts bothered him in so many ways - the thoughts themselves and the mere fact that he was having those thoughts. He couldn't believe the images that were currently flooding his mind. She was there in the wild crowd, her petite frame was so sinuous, so … intoxicating in a way he had never realized before. She let the music take control, closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Her body moved along with the beat so skillfully, as if she had been dancing all her life. She spun and gyrated, smooth black hair flying across her face, arms flung freely above her head, hips swaying sensually.

Sensual? He had that that word in his dictionary? The leggy blondes and curvy brunettes in the porn magazines Irvine showed him from time to time were _sensual_, but the word on them felt wanton, lascivious. On Rinoa? The word sounded divine - _she _was divine. He had found himself staring, watching, _observing _her, every swing of her arm, every arch of her body completely captured him. _Nothing _had ever held his attention for more than five seconds, yet she had his eyes on her song after song. His mind had screamed with alarm, telling him to resume his normal attitude. But then, what was normal when it felt so natural to keep her in view?

How would he _normally_ look at her, then? His inner voice whispered: _just as you did_. He blinked and rubbed at his face few more times. That wasn't right! Sleep deprived and drunk he may be, he was still sane enough to know how he had reacted was _not _normal. Right from the start, the act of himself wandering towards A wing was completely inexplicable. He was as much of a partygoer as Quistis. With so much reluctance and confusion, how he had managed to end up inside the party was beyond him. He should've left, but he hadn't. Instead, along with some drinks, he had retreated into a corner before anyone took notice of his presence.

In the dark, he stood contemplating, _questioning_ his rash behavior, but before he could solve the puzzle that was himself, he saw _her_.

He relived the moment his eyes had fallen on her and a wash of irritation swept over him again. He still couldn't comprehend what exactly he had wanted then. When he leaned his back against the pillar, he had intended to remain in that position until the end. Yet, as he watched her fluent motions he found himself with an urge to approach, or even _join _her in the dancing crowd. The only thing that had kept him in place had been his confusion, and he was thankful for it. Squall Leonhart and dancing did not mix.

No matter how hard he'd fought, his eyes would still find the way back to her and he'd have to drag them away yet again.

In a poor attempt to keep himself busied, he had emptied and filled his glass over and over. He hadn't realized it'd been a bad idea until control over his body had become almost impossible. Unable resist anymore, he had casted a quick glance at Rinoa, just in time to see that she was wobbling, any vigor she'd had was gone. She was going to fall. He tried to focus through the haze that the drinks had brought on, mentally cursing himself for not approaching her earlier. Had he done that, he would've been there to keep her frail form from touching the ground. Much to his dismay, before he could even set one foot towards her, she had collided into someone else, a man. The guy had swiftly steadied her before picking her up with ease and carried her away.

Squall slammed his fists down to the mattress and snapped up from his bed abruptly, ignoring his torturous hangover. His mouth subconsciously muttered some curse words as he violently ruffled his mane of hair. He was angry at Rinoa for allowing the man to take her away. He loathed the man that had taken her away, that guy had no right. _'So you think you have the right?'_ _'… Yes, yes I do.' _He heard himself converse and snorted. _'How conceited … Whatever.' _He blamed the alcohol.

He was also angry at himself for letting that guy take her away, for not being sober enough to make out who was it that had taken her. Now he dreaded every single second wondering if she had made it safely back to her room. He had no idea where she was, he didn't know her room number, he wasn't even sure if she was in her room at all. The thought made him shoot up to his feet, hands balling into fists. He regretted letting his pride prevent him from going to her, he regretted not bringing her back himself.

Suddenly, an annoyingly catchy ringtone shattered the silence in the room. He shot a deadly glance at the flashing screen on top of the desk as if he could detonate it at will. The device continued to play the cheery song without a care about its owner's anger, and it took him a whole five seconds to realize how stupid he was being. Squall shook his head and tried to cool his temper as he picked up the phone.

'_Train song?'_ He thought as he recognized the lyrics and winced. _'__**Selphie**__ …'_ When did that girl get her hands onto his phone? The perky brunette loved installing her favorite song into phones, no matter whose they were. That was it! She had annoyed him and broken the deal, he was not the leader of their stupid group anymore!

Squall let out a small groan when he noticed who the caller was and tapped onto the screen to answer. "What?" He grated. An annoying ringtone informing of an annoying caller, just the way to start his day.

"Hiya, son!" His father's loud voice greeted him with enthusiasm that tired him out even more. "Why so cranky?"

"It's five in the morning."

"Oh! Right, I always forget the different time zones. They always give me a hard time abroad since I'm not very adoptive." Laguna laughed unashamedly and Squall rolled his eyes. _'It's adaptive though.' _He thought, but stayed silent, not wanting to take up the hassle of correcting the man. "But grown boys should be up at this hour. The early Chocobo catches the Caterchipillar, sleep and rise early will do tremendously to your heal-"

"Your reason for calling?" He cut in sharply, his headache was getting worse thanks to his father's chirping and he _really _didn't want to talk about sleep right now.

"Alright, _fine!_" The man said; judging from his tone, Squall could imagine him pouting at the other end of the line. "Check your email."

The brunette exhaled and sat down at his desk to start up his laptop and turn on the lamp; the phone was kept pressed to his ear for further explanations. Laguna didn't say anything more. It seemed he was to find out whatever was in the email by himself. He rubbed his eyes over and over until they could focus and make out the words on the screen, he really needed some rest. When he had signed into his account, he clicked on the only email in the inbox. He liked to keep his inbox clean.

The email contained the information for his research in Dollet, along with a text file, and when he accessed it, he couldn't help his eyes from widening. It was a request form that would allow him to excuse himself from any activity during the trip. "How?" He asked curtly. How did Laguna know he was going on a school trip? He never told the man anything about that.

"Oh, come on. Give me some credits here." Laguna whined. "I have very reliable sources."

Squall gave it a thought and stifled a wry shake of his head as his hand quickly typed the address of a certain website into his browser. The site finished loading and instantly confirmed his suspicion. _'Reliable, indeed.' _He narrowed his eyes at the screen. It wasn't very hard to find out when the news of the trip was posted all over Garden's official website.

"I don't need this." He said, pushing away from the laptop, and leaned back in his chair. He would fare just fine without complicated papers and forms. If he maneuvered his way wisely, he could slip out undetected and be back before anyone started questioning his absence. "You've wasted your time." And his time, too. Squall didn't have time to for this farce, Rinoa could be in some pervert's room or worse … Unnerved by his overactive imagination, he put a hand to his mouth and wiped away the sweat beading above his upper lip. It was just the alcohol …

"Not if you print it out." Laguna said firmly, pulling him away from his thoughts. "So, print it out."

"I'm not-"

"No. _I'm _not having you caught sneaking away or anything remotely like that." His father interrupted aggressively. "You will do your work _legally_ with the form. Now, print it out and give it to your teacher. Geez, why do you make it hard for yourself when you could have things the easy way?"

Squall growled and switched the phone to speaker mode before putting it down on the desk and craned over his laptop to start up the printer in the corner. Yes, he was being submissive, but that was only because he was too tired to argue. With a few keys pressed, he had the form printed out and grabbed a pen to sign the paper.

"Oh, and Squall. I had some money transferred to your account. Cash it for anything you might need in the trip." Laguna paused, but quickly added. "Now, I know you will argue with me again. Well, don't. It's been, what? Four years since I last give you an allowance. You make your own money, and that makes me feel so old. Let me spoil you from time to time." Hearing that statement, Squall glowered at the innocent phone. He didn't need _or _want to be spoiled. "Plus, you can never be too careful."

"So says the king of carelessness." Squall muttered, finding a tiny hint of enjoyment in pointing out the irony. He tilted the chair back and held the paper over his head, looking over the form once more in dimmer lighting. Laguna was just being bothersome, this was completely unneeded. Without the useless meddling, he still respect Laguna as a father- _not_ that the man would ever get to hear that from his mouth.

"Squall, do you have a girlfriend now?" _Slam!_ "Hm? What was that sound? Did something topple over? … Squall?"

_Never _would he tilt another chair again, Squall swore to Hyne as he reached to the desk and pulled himself up from the floor, rubbing at the sore bump behind his head. Something had toppled over, alright. "Nothing!" He snapped in spite of the truth, picking the fallen swivel chair back to its feet. That sure startled him. Where did this topic come from anyway? "No, I don't." _Nor will I ever have one _he was going to add, but something kept him from saying it. And his irritation grew again. He was beginning to doubt if he knew himself at all.

"You don't want me to talk about this either, right?" A sigh came from the phone. "What am I suppose to talk about, then? Not about school, not about work, not about relationship. How am I to know what's happening in your life? We haven't had a good talk for years, and you didn't even return home this summer."

His father's word brought up much - too much contemplating for him. The atmosphere was getting awkward due to lack of a good answer on his part, and he thanked Hyne he was talking to him through an inanimate object, not face-to-face with the man. His jaw worked and he swallowed. "Whatever." He was never an expert in this type of situations.

"Trust you to show understanding." Laguna said blandly. "Anyways, at least tell me if you have a girl in mind. You must be a female magnet over there, you did receive your killer look from me and Raine."

"None at all." Squall massaged the bridge of his nose. Trust Laguna to recover quickly.

"What about Rinoa? She's a nice girl."

"Just a friend …" He trailed off, feeling unsure. Just a friend, right? He had been worried for her because she was a long time friend, right?

Wait, wasn't alcohol the reason?

* * *

><p>"<em>Don't talk to me, it's annoying." He brushed her of with such callousness and walked away, leaving her with a great sense of hurt, unshed tears were burning at the corners of her eyes. It was pitch black all around, darkness spread out as far as her vision allowed. His back was the only thing she could she, and she chased after him, calling out for him. He never heard, his pace never ceased and she never reached him. The distance between them kept getting wider and wider, until he was barely visible to her. From behind, many hands suddenly grabbed at her and hauled her back, pinning her down. It wasn't hands, but string, thread - spider's thread, and the creature itself was standing over her. She was frozen with fear as the scene morphed to a garden of sorts.<em>

"_Ugly duckling, think you can boss me around?" He smirked with such malice as he remained seated on her stomach, weighing down on her. He was so strong. It had been then that she had learned of the unfair gap between the strength of male and female. His knees grinded at her arms, preventing any retaliation from her. It hurt. To make the matter worse, he pulled at her hair and even relentlessly hit her head. He raised his fist up high to gain more momentum and she closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the possibly fatal hit. It never came, and instead, her body became light and unrestraint. Her nose was filled with the smell of earth and of rain._

"_I'll be your friend." He said with such kindness, patting her on the head. His gentle touch was like a healing remedy for her throbbing hurt, and she could no longer hold back her tears. Like a marionette with a string attached to its wrist, she brought her hand over his, afraid that he would let go. As warm drops rolled down her cheek, his equally warm palm cupped her cheek and wiped them sideways._

Rinoa opened her eyes, her breathing was ragged. She saw a blurry image of a person looking down at her and felt hands on her head and cheek – just like in the dream.

"Shh, it's okay." A low voice rumbled tenderly as a hand brushed back few strands of her tear-dampened hair. "Get some more sleep."

A man? His voice was so soothing, it made her feel secure and she obeyed his command, letting her heavy lids slide closed again.

She woke with a pounding headache, staring at the dark ceiling. This was the first time her head had ever experienced such a hammering hurt, and she couldn't quite determined the reason for her sluggish state. Maybe she had come down with a cold. Rinoa let out a shaky groan as she rolled onto her side and curled up under the blanket, her head seeking the comfort of the plump pillow underneath. Burying her face into the soft surface, she sucked in a breath, filling her lungs with a foreign scent of shampoo. _'Smells nice~' _She felt her consciousness slipping away, and she gladly bid it goodbye.

Suddenly, there was a muffled set of knocks resounded in her ears, cruelly bringing her back to the realm of reality with her pumping ache. She was _this_ close to a blissful sleep. Rinoa refused to acknowledge the noise and kept her eyes tightly shut. Silence stretched, and she was beginning a mental celebration when another roll of rapping blared out. She winced and retreated under the blanket, wrapping the cover around her body. Where did the sound come from? More importantly, who created them? Who was so heartless as to disturb a sick girl's rest? _'Why hasn't the maid let herself … in …?' _She trailed off.

Her intelligence was slowly coming back to and she finally remembered. _'Right, I'm a dormy now. No maids.' _Yet another round of that accursed sound and she clicked her tongue, her hand shot out from under the blanket and pulled the large pillow down over her head to block out the disturbance. There was a swift pause before the knocking came back - this time louder, longer. There were moments where she wished she was deaf … Okay, she didn't really mean that. With much displeasure, she slit opened her eyes from under her hideout to see the sunlight peeking out from behind a thick curtain. She could even hear the birds chirping. Although the room was still a bit dim, it was morning outside … either get up and get dressed or get berated by Selphie for missing the group breakfast.

She chose the lesser evil.

Rinoa climbed off the bed and gave a shrill sigh as the noise from outside relentlessly assault her head. Her bare feet touched the cold marble floor and she shuddered slightly.

After getting used to the chilliness, she stood up slowly, steadying her stance while resisting the urge to scurry back into the bed and hug her poor little head. She brought a hand up to rub the sleep out of her face and staggered torpidly towards the door. Unexpectedly, one of her feet - she wasn't sure which - stepped onto her trouser leg and she fell forward, hitting the floor painfully with her entire front. What a way to start her day, she mused with menace fueled by her headache. One hand covering her painful nose, she pushed herself up and glared at the trouser leg that was too long for her.

It was then that she took note of what she was wearing: a pair of black pajamas. The shirt was large reaching down to her knees; its sleeves swallowed up both of her arms, and the shoulders had a ridiculous width. The trousers, the culprit of her fall, was so loose it barely hung onto her small waist; the legs were undeniably long with its length collecting around her feet, which was the reason why she fell in the first place. When did she even have such baggy clothes? She slightly knitted her brows, trying to make sense of the situation.

The muffled knocking started yet again, and something inside her snapped. She tugged at the waistband, lest it slipped from her hips, and burst through the bedroom door. She headed straight for the door that would let her face with her unknown offender. _'I swear, if that's Seifer finally dragging his ass back after flirting with Quistis, I __**will **__chuck the hairy spider-'_

She faltered, stopping dead in her trek. Something was wrong, something was _seriously_ wrong. She had slept in a very clean room … If she had never finished cleaning up her room, and the spider was still in there then … where had she slept in? Rinoa turned around, realizing that she had just walked out from the room on the _left_, while her own room was supposed to be on the right. _'N-no way!'_ Her memory was returning. She had been in the party, drinking and dancing … She vaguely recalled being carried away by a male and clinging onto him. Rinoa inwardly shook herself; there was no way that it was _Seifer,_ of all people, who had brought her to … to his room!

This was too weird, Seifer could _not _have done that. The act of kindness did _not _suit him.

Then something else hit her. She was wearing male clothing, and if Seifer was the one brought her back then … A chill shot down her spine and her hands shot up to hug herself protectively. _'A dream, yes, a dream.'_ Rinoa tried to assure herself. But then, her head was hurting so this couldn't be a dream. She felt dizzier and dizzier due to her confusion. Before she could recompose herself, the knocks sounded once more, making her heart prance. She swallowed hard and walked to the door, eyeing it intently. Knowing this was his dorm room also, Rinoa still pleaded. _'Please, Hyne, __**please**__ don't let it be Seifer.'_

He had been knocking for the nth time and still no one answered, but he knew there was someone inside. Garden's dorm rooms had a small LED light just below the key panels that would glow red if there was electricity usage inside, and if there was no one occupying the room then a sensor would confirm that and cut off the power to conserve energy. Yes, there were some inconveniences, typically if one needed to recharge their phones, they had to be present in the room or else nothing would be charged. There were a lot of complains but apparently, that was the student body's problem, not the Garden's. Anyway, the light was bright red, there was someone inside and, Hyne forbid, if he didn't get things done now then he would-

There was a small shutter sound that indicated the lock being disabled. Slowly, the door-handle was pushed down. _'Finally.'_ He thought, but when his eyes fell onto the person behind the door, he froze and he could feel his irises dilated. Rinoa was staring back at him, her expression mirroring his right down to the slightly parted lips. His gaze dropped a bit lower to see that she was wearing … male clothing? The clothes were obviously too big for her petite body.

Although he had spent the entire night looking at her features in his head, he was still enthralled by her presence. She was an untidy heap, but she looked beautiful. The baggy clothes only serve to elevate how slender she was. One of her hands was thrust under the giant shirt, probably to hold the trousers up; noticing that made his mind filled with imaginations about her navel that she had flashed from time to time back in the party. He gulped and moved his gaze up to her hair. He wanted to run his fingers through her messy black hair and untangle the stubborn knots, fantasizing about the silkiness it promised. His hands twitched in respond to the thought and he quickly balled his fists to prevent them from doing … stuff.

Unfortunately, one of his hands was holding the request form and he had conveniently crushed one side of the paper. The scrunching sound shook him out of his reverie, and he snapped his head downwards, hastily uncurling his hand, as if the hurried act would save the paper somehow. _'What the hell was I …?' _He thought, trying to flatten the wrinkled sheet.

"S-Squall?" Rinoa was the first to break the dumbstruck silence. So Hyne had granted her wish. Instead of the worst possible person in her social life, she got the second worst. Or was it the other way around? No, that was not the point at all. The point was Squall's questionable presence before her dorm room and he was so strikingly handsome. Even with the shadows under his eyes and his sleep-deprived appearance, he still seemed flawlessly refined to her. It was always his ashy blue irises that drew her in. Though she liked his unruly brown mane, sometimes she just wished he would get rid of his shaggy bang so that she could see more of those-

Wait a minute! That was _also_ _not _the point. _'Rinoa, snap out of it!'_ She inwardly slapped herself. Anyway, as Squall didn't know her room number, he couldn't have come here for her. So, what did he want with Seifer this early in the morning? And why did he suddenly crush the paper like that?

He brought his gaze back up to her pale face, she was still looking at him, but her eyes were unfocused, seemingly lost in thought. "Why are you here?" He finally found his voice and asked the important question that had only popped up in his head just now. So it was _him_ who had carried Rinoa away … she was in that guy's room, wearing that guy's clothes. The thought strangely angered him.

Rinoa blinked at the evidential ire in his tone and answered unsurely. "Well, er, cause this is my room also?"

"What?" Squall raised one eyebrow disbelievingly. "That's … absurd."

"Okay, Squall, tell me which part of me living in a boy's dorm _isn't _absurd?" She countered, an uncomfortable feeling creeping up inside her. She really didn't want to be reminded that she was sharing a dorm room with Seifer. A part of her was … ashamed as she remembered she was still wearing the blond's pajamas in front of Squall. Although the clothes had swallowed up her whole body, under his scrutinizing gaze, she still felt the urge to cover herself.

"So, not only the room, you two share clothes, too?" His tone was mocking, motioning towards her getup with the paper. The implication in his speech stung.

"I-I was drunk." She tried to reason.

"Is alcohol an excuse for every unexplainable action?" He shot back immediately, his menacing aura made her feel as if she was two inches tall. She never liked being oppressed, and Squall's attitude was unacceptable. He was not her father while she wouldn't take this even from her father. She had been drunk for the first time in her life, how was she to control herself if she didn't know what she was capable of?

"You have no right to criticize me, mister." Rinoa pushed up a long sleeve to reveal her hand and wagged her finger at him. "I know you're the type to never get drunk enough to lose his head, you don't understand what it's like to have no control over your actions so don't you _dare_ lecture me with that patronizing face." She was surprised she had the nerve to argue with Squall. Maybe the alcohol hadn't completely vanished from her system. _'Oh, yes Rinoa, blame it __**all**__ on the alcohol.'_ She told herself sarcastically.

Squall seemed taken back by her outburst but quickly put on his normal frown. He felt a small grudge towards her statement; he had just lost control of himself last night! He crossed his arms, mindful not to harm the paper any further, and lowered his head. What was the dorms manager thinking? "When you said you have a personal supervisor, I didn't think it would be to this degree."

His body became taut as he realized he had let slip of his inner thought. He wasn't supposed to say that, she wasn't supposed to hear that. Squall looked back up, hoping she wasn't able to make out his words. She had a blank expression - his mumbling had been heard, alright. Blast it, if she had heard then he should get to hear her answer. And he wiped the shock off his face to stare at her expectantly. "You actually share a room with him?"

"Wha-" Words were on the brink of spilling out of her lips, but she stopped herself to go over his words again. "How did you know I have a personal supervisor?"

"You talked about it during lunch." He shrugged, offering his answer quite quickly. Did she ignore his question on purpose?

Rinoa knitted her brows, she didn't recall telling him about Mr. Night, in fact she never had any conversation with him until the itching water incident. Though, she did chat with the girls about it … "You eavesdropped!" She accused, stomping at the ground. Although thinking back, there was nothing worth being upset about; she really didn't understand why she was so defensive about this topic.

"You were loud." Squall grumbled. _'What about the supervisor?'_

"I thought you were asleep." Rinoa threw her hands up in exasperation.

"And how was that my fault?" He narrowed his eyes, wondering what was wrong with her. She had never reacted so strongly or tried to induce such a direct argument with him before. _'And what about the supervisor?'_

It seemed like she didn't have a good comeback to that; her lower lips quivering slightly before she stuttered with willfulness. "Y-you could've let me know!" She jabbed a finger at his chest, gosh, was she bold today. But it _was _his fault for leading her to believe he was sleeping with his eyes open again!

"That's just unreasonable." He shifted his stance impatiently. _'What. About. The __**supervisor**__?'_

"Anyway!" She strained the word, angry because she was losing the verbal tennis. "What does Mr. Night have anything to do with this? In the first place, what did you want with Seifer this early in the morning?" _I would've had a bit more sleep if you never came knocking!_ she was going to say, but had refrained.

"Nightsphere has _everything _to do with this." Squall said through gritted teeth as he took a step closer, towering over her. Why did Seifer pop up in this conversation? It was the younger blond who had nothing to do with this. "And what gave you the idea that I have any business with Almasy?"

"Cause you knocked on this door?" She raised her tone, her arms spreading sideways to emphasize her exhaustion. She was getting fed up with their conversation. The first time she had heard him engage in a conversation so passionately and it was to argue with her over this stupid topic. Had he woken up on the wrong side of the bed? "I'm sure you didn't come here for me since you didn't know that I'm Seifer's roommate."

"You're Seifer's roommate?" Squall spluttered out in surprise.

"_Yes,_" she exaggerated a breath, eyeing him as if he was an idiot - well, he might as well be one for participating in this ridiculous exchange of words between them. "Why would I be sharing his dorm room otherwise?"

He stared at her in confusion. As witty as she had intended that quip to be … "This is not Seifer's room." He corrected her firmly; it was slowly dawning on him that they hadn't been on the same page at all. "His room is-"

"Here." Rinoa cut him off, realizing that it was the headache that was pulling her mood down. Forget the group breakfast, she was _so_ going back to sleep after this was over, Seifer's bed or not. Why did Squall always choose to mess with her at the worst time possible? She had been trying her hardest to … accept him as a friend, but he was just making it _very _hard for her. She put her forehead between her thumb and forefinger, trying to contain her emotions. "I'm his roommate, I know." The unfortunate roommate with all the trash and the … insects.

Squall placed his free hand to his hip habitually. This was Seifer's room also? She seemed so sure of it that _he _became unsure. But … did the blond swap rooms or something? Because his place was supposed to be three rooms from here. "Really? You're sure this is his room?" He couldn't help but ask again. The thought of Seifer actually bringing a drunken Rinoa back and taking care of her was simply ludicrous. And considering how she was in a pair of male pajamas-

"Yes, Squall. I'm sure." She interrupted his line of thoughts and pushed him back from the doorway, walking around him point at her proof. "We're exactly three rooms from the end of … the … hallway." Her voice faltered as she saw a solid wall just inches away from her. She blinked for the umpteenth time, looking back and forth to confirm that she was … at the end of the hallway. Squall was looking at her as if waiting for her to give a proper explanation, which was impossible as she also had no idea what was going on.

'_Okay, calm down, Rinoa.'_ The room at the end of the hallway. She had just walked out from the room at the end of the hallway.

Rinoa's eyes were darting all over the place, uncertainty was written all over her face. So she had finally realized that she had been wrong. She looked as helpless and bewildered as a Tonberry stripped of its kitchen knife. And while he hated Tonberrys, he couldn't help viewing her as one and thought her … adorable. He did realize he could have waited for a more suitable time to spout that unfamiliar adjective but he wasn't in control of his thoughts anymore. She seemed so vulnerable it brought out a rush of protectiveness inside him that he never knew he was capable of.

He took a step towards her, about to break the silence when he saw her flinch. Something behind him was making her expression a mixture between glad, worried and confused. Hurried footsteps were echoing in the hallway, there was someone running towards them. As much as he wanted to ignore the sound, he still turned slightly to see that it was their homeroom teacher, Rinoa's supervisor. The man wore a look as if he had been caught red-handed.

* * *

><p>Rinoa settled down onto the black leather sofa, making herself comfortable. Now that she had calmed down considerably compared to before, she finally had the mind to take in the interior of the room. Things felt a lot more homey in here, which was understandable because theoretically, as long as there were dormies, wing overseers were required to supervise the students twenty-four seven. Thus, Garden was like their second home.<p>

She casted her eyes around the room, eagerly drinking in everything, as she wondered how she was able to miss all of this before. This lounge was fully furnished, far from that of a student's room: a marble table with a small tea-set; a long sofa, completed with resilient throw pillows and soft rugs underneath, surrounded three sides of the rectangular table; a small wind chime hung near the opened window; several pots of plants sitting on small drawers; several glass sideboards were piled up to the ceiling, making a dangerous-looking weapon's showcase - and not to mention, the telltale walls that were painted with black and grey.

In a student's room, or at least the room that she shared with Seifer, the lounge was … not a lounge. There were only a table, two or three chairs, white-painted walls and cream and indigo patterned floor with a tall plant in the corner. But oh, in half a day, Seifer had managed to redecorate the dull place with beer cans and food wrappings, wasn't that nice of him? And the vein-popping fact was that he had purposely dumped the trash on _her _side of the lounge. That guy, thinking about him made her blood boil. In the near future, she would make sure he suffered - though from what, she still didn't know.

Anyway, how could she have been so stupid? It was so painfully obvious that this wasn't a student's dorm.

"Here, drink this." A dark-colored glass was held out to her; the pale strong fingers wrapping around the container could only belong to one person.

"Thank you, Mr. Night." She smiled up at his gentle gaze, hastily accepting the glass with much enthusiasm. _Too_ much.

Squall sat on another part of the sofa with one leg over the other and his arms folded, leaning back into the cool surface that was swallowing him under his weight. Were they ignoring him? Was _she? _He was never one to want attention, but now that she wasn't paying any heed to him, he felt so annoyed and bothered. The flowery sight of her and the teacher put a sour taste in his mouth, and he could only deepen his already perpetual frown, gritting his teeth to control himself. There it was again, the same irritation that had nagged at him the whole night. He had to stay cool. If he let slip of anything now, there would be serious problem, as there was no alcohol for him to put the blame on. Stifling a growl, he sank deeper into the sofa, hoping its low temperature would pass to him.

"Mr. Leonhart, I'll get to you in a moment." Night told him with a provokingly composed aura and walked into the room on the right, leaving his students alone again. No, the guy hadn't been picking a fight with Squall, he was simply very short-tempered right now; his anger for the situation still roiled within him like an injured lion. Rinoa was wearing that teacher's pajamas. Didn't that mean the guy had … undressed her? His hands curled at the thought. Not only that, the blond looked as if he was out for seduction, what with his mussed head and the long sleeve shirt that only had one button done at the middle. Was the guy purposely showing her his taut muscular front or something?

He glowered at Rinoa, who was completely unaware of his eyes on her. She ran a finger down the length of the dark glass, an inane smile plastered all over her face. Then, she proceeded to use that same finger to poke into the contents of the glass, flinching a bit. She had probably realized how icky the drink was - she hadn't known anything yet. He could feel a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watched her bring the glass up to her full pink lips. He had thought that he should warn her, but an unknown mischievous side of him told him to keep quiet.

She parted her lips a bit more to allow the slimy liquid more entrance. The odd substance had reached her front teeth already, and she squeezed her eyes shut, afraid of the consequences. A cold touch landed on her tongue and quickly splayed out in her mouth, drowning her taste-buds in a horrible, horrible flavor. She immediately yanked the glass away from her lips while fighting to not spit the worth that was already inside. After placing the glass safely onto the table, she slapped hands to the lower half of her face, holding her breath as she forced the drink down pass her uvula. She would never have drunk this if it hadn't been given to her by Mr. Night. _'So gross!'_

A gulp had never sounded as heavenly as now, when she had successfully pushed the yucky stuff to her stomach. Goosebumps crawled down her arms and she shivered from the nauseating experience. She scrunched up her nose at the aftertaste on her tongue, reluctant to swallow again. But why did it smell like- Squall was watching her, his expression bored yet there was amusement in his eyes. That guy, despite making a sullen face just minutes before, he was probably rolling with laughter inside his head. He ticked her off. Squall never paid any attention to her, but when he actually cared to glance, it was always at her worst moments. Like when she'd had permanent ink all over her face, he'd been the only one who'd seen her as she'd fled for home - while even her parents had had no idea why she had hid in her room for seven days straight!

"Meanie!" She puffed up her cheeks.

He didn't give any respond to her insult and simply stared back at her for a moment before lowering his gaze to the crumpled paper in his hand. "Olive oil, yolk, salt, pepper, ketchup." He started listing, his low voice rang deeply. "Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar."

"What?" She raised one eyebrow, not really understanding what he was getting at.

"Thought you'd want to know what you'd drunk." He answered simply, still busying himself with the incorrigible paper. "Hangover remedy."

Oh, now that he mentioned it, she had thought she'd tasted ketchup and pepper. She didn't know what that Worstecshir-something sauce was, though. "Wow, really?" True, she was feeling better already! So she didn't have a cold after all. "You even know the ingredients? I guess you get hangovers quite often, huh."

He remained quiet. What was with him? She was going to try and keep the conversation going but he just ended it like that? She should have known better, they would never get along. With a huff, she looked away and concentrated on the door, which Mr. Night had disappeared behind. She placed a finger to her lower lip, as realization shot through her: the reason why Seifer often bullied her in the morning. He probably drowned himself in booze every night just so that he could get hangovers and take it all out on her. That meanie!

Rinoa looked like she had drifted into her own world again, and it pissed him off. A clack sounded and Night walked back out, all well-groomed now. The abnormally pale blond hair had been ridden of the unruly curls and his clothes were immaculate. Squall admitted, the teacher was a fine-looking man, which was why the eyes of a certain teacher's pet were all sparkly at the sight of her idol. Really, he did _not_ like her biased attitude.

"Sorry to keep you two waiting." The teacher sat down on the seat across from Rinoa with his normal empty expression, his eyes regarding both students, yet the slightest of smile was carefully directed at the female student.

"No problem. I mean, I've already imposed on you this much." She said shyly, motioning nervously at herself.

Squall had a problem though. He felt like dragging Rinoa out of here.

"Mr. Leonhart, few words as always." Night said to him. "What brings you to this room so early in the morning?"

He wordlessly placed the form he had printed out onto the marble surface of the table and pushed it towards the blond. The man instantly picked the paper up; if he had any surprise about the state of the thing, he didn't show it. His eyes quickly scanned through the contents before switching back to Squall. "I see. I'll take care of the rest."

"What is it, Squall?" Rinoa asked curiously. When he didn't answer, she pouted and immediately turned to the teacher expectantly. Squall wasn't too worried though.

"Sorry, if he doesn't want to say then I can't either." The blond said uneasily at Rinoa's accusing look, folding the form in half and put it aside. "Now, Mr. Leonhart. I noticed you've been looking at me with those suspicious eyes." Damn right, he was. What was Squall suppose to think when a student was wearing her homeroom teacher's pajamas? He kept silent to not give away any unnecessary information and see what excuse the older man could come up with. From his peripheral vision, he could gather that Rinoa was flushed red with embarrassment. Had she finally understand the seriousness of this situation?

"I assure you I only brought Rinoa back here, her clothes were later changed by Ms. Skyweaver." Night said, more to Rinoa than to Squall, as the coffeemaker sibilated. The man swiftly excused himself and left for the machine at his small built-in kitchen in the corner.

If the blond was telling the truth, good. Rinoa seemed very relieved to hear it, too. Squall felt that his anger had lessened somewhat, but nowhere near dissipated. The fact that she had slept so defenselessly in the guy's room was more than aggravating. And why he was feeling this was still a mystery to him. He had thought that when the alcohol had worn of, he wouldn't be … weird anymore, but apparently, he was still reacting strangely to everything that involved the black-haired girl.

After a few seconds, the teacher brought the coffee-filled carafe back with two mugs. "Would you like some?" He specifically asked the male student as he sat down.

Although Squall wasn't too fond of accepting anything from the blond, his desire to sleep was gripping at him, threatening to knock him out right then and there. "Please, sir." He mumbled, planting his elbows onto his knees and leant forward. Night quickly poured the black liquid into the two mugs and placed one in front of him. "Thank you." Squall said quickly before taking small gulps of the coffee. Though lured by the fragrance, he still had to be mindful of the boiling heat. Then, he winced, conscious that he might have been too eager in drinking.

"I'd like some, too!" Rinoa complained as she finished rolling up the trouser legs.

"Rinoa, if you want something to drink then I'll get you water." The teacher said coolly, taking a sip of his own mug.

"Why? I'm fine already, so _please_ can I have some?" She pouted cutely, putting her hands together. When the man didn't respond, she pleaded again, with an even sweeter voice. "Pretty, pretty please? Or do I have to hypnotize you for it?"

To Squall surprise, the aloof man actually yanked the mug away to stifle a laugh. He felt like a true outsider, who had no idea what the joke was about. Night gave a final sigh after his laughing had ceased and placed the mug into the girl's outstretched hands. She accepted it with glee and began drinking right away. It took everything he had to not drop _or _crush the mug in his grasp; his only consolation was that her lips met the mug at a different spot from the blond's. He knew he had never paid attention, but how far had these two's relationship gotten?

"By the way, Mr. Leonhart." Mr. Night said to Squall, who was looking quite uncomfortable. "I understand you're not the type to talk." Nope, he didn't talk _at all, _she thought grudgingly. "But I'll say it anyway. Things will be quite complicated if this gets out, so I hope you don't discuss this with anyone."

"… Understood." Squall said simply and drinking from his mug again. What was with his attitude? That was rude, especially towards someone who had treated him to a drink.

Rinoa then noticed that the silence was stretching and quickly becoming awkward. Good Hyne, how could she have forgotten? While Mr. Night was a lot better than Squall, they were _both _verbally challenged males.

"It's so bitter! And hot!" She exclaimed, placing the mug down next to the empty glass of hangover remedy.

"…" Night picked up his mug and stared into it with a bothered face. The then man narrowed his eyes at her. "It _was _bitter, and hot, and you still drank all of it?"

"Teehee." Rinoa made her hand into a fist and mock-knuckled her own head.

He really, really hated this sight. Squall drained his coffee and placed it down onto the table also. He was irritated by their interaction, and he was irritated at the fact that he was irritated. Why couldn't he give a single plausible reason for his behavior?

"Do you still have any business with me or Rinoa?" The blond asked him, not hiding that he wanted Squall gone. "If not, I'd like to have a word with her."

"None, sir. Thank you for your hospitality." He said blandly and stood up. "I'll be going now."

Done. He had done what Laguna told him to do, deliver the form to his teacher. There was no reason for him to stay here anymore, especially not if he would have to witness more of their stupid relationship. So, why was a part of him screaming at him, telling him to drag her along with him? There was an unfathomable urge to get Rinoa away from the teacher, to tell the man that she was his alone. But he couldn't, because she was never his. As a friend, his concern for her stopped here. The blond was no fool so Rinoa would be fine.

_'And why are you so sure about that?'_ A dark thought crossed his mind. For all he knew, the could guy have lied and in fact, _he_ had been the one to change Rinoa's clothes.

"Is there something wrong?" Night's low voice broke through his dense layer of thoughts, bringing him back to realize that he had stopped halfway to the door. Squall glanced back to the two, who still remained seated. Her innocent brown orbs were looking at him questioningly. Even he wanted to look at himself questioningly. He might be repetitive, but he was acting strange, strange towards her. He was noticing things about her that he had never known existed before. What was wrong with him?

Beyond confused, he muttered a no and head straight outside without looking back again. As the door closed behind him, a sense of lost wrapped around him. He wanted to go back in there, but reasoning told him that if he did, he would have no explanation for his action at all. And while even his own mind couldn't be explained, how would he handle his actions? This was not him, so how was he supposed to understand? He could feel his usual composure shattering and broke into a run - to where, he wasn't sure.

Back inside her supervisor's room, she squirmed uneasily in her seat. This was so awkward with just the two of them. It hadn't occurred to her that Squall's leave would affect the atmosphere this much. Her hands played nervously with the hem of her shirt; the act reminded her that she was still wearing his clothes. Rinoa fought a blush and released the hem, her mind frantically search for something - anything - to say or do. She looked up to him from under her lashes, watching as he cleaned the dirty mugs and glass.

Mr. Night was a special person, he was very kind to her. She sat, thinking back to the dream she had had. The first two scenes were nightmares, but the third … She smiled. It was about the first time they had met in the Garden's greenhouse. It had been the beginning of her first year in high school, when her little group of friends hadn't been formed. She had been lonely and wet - from the rain. She'd sought shelter in the greenhouse, and met a man who smelled of wood. He had cheered her up and promised to be her friend, the first in four years. He never knew how much that meant to her.

"Rinoa." Mr. Night started, pulling her out of her little daydream. He was leaning back on the sofa, one of his arms resting on the seat's back.

"Y-yes?" She answered jumpily, and as her gaze met his, she subconsciously straightened her pose. It was almost as intense and menacing as the one Squall had given her before. He seemed to be .. angry? That was impossible, she laughed at the thought. He wouldn't-

"Don't _ever_ drink again!"

* * *

><p>Everyone had gathered at the usual table in the corner of the cafeteria, all very sluggish. It seemed her friends didn't have that Worteshir-something sauce and that Tabasco to make their remedy. As for her, while rid of the hangover, she was till very sleepy; and of course, she had seen the state Squall had been in earlier this morning. The only ones who were in their best conditions: Quistis and, surprisingly, <em>Seifer!<em> It seemed the guy had spent a very healthy night with his woman - as he had put it and received a slap from the woman herself. But that wasn't enough to sooth Rinoa's annoyance. Seifer was still smirking triumphantly. He was so full of himself, how could she ever have thought that he was the one who'd carried her back? Ah, she so wanted to slam his soup into his face.

"Irvy …" Selphie said smilingly, but the perky girl was obviously lacking her cheery attitude. "Can you get us some water?"

"Sure, Selph." Irvine replied and stood up slowly.

"Irvine, sit down and let me." Quistis hastily stood up, casting a general glance around the table. "You guys look horrible."

"Good idea. Bring a lot for me." Zell drawled without lifting his forehead from the table.

"Shut up Chickenwuss, no woman of mine-"

"_I'm _doing it because I know you wouldn't move a muscle without dragging this out." The blonde jabbed at his chest.

"Who told them to drink!" Seifer gestured to the rest of the group. Wait, was it just her, or was Seifer actually being mean because he didn't get to drink? Quistis sucked in a breath, about to snap back when Irvine interjected. "Don't worry, Quisty. I got it." And he quickly placed a kiss onto Selphie's head before staggering away. The blonde was going to follow him when Selphie said. "Leave him, it's his test."

"Test?" Quistis and Seifer were the only one who'd physically responded to the girl's statement as everyone else was too tired to even move their eyes.

"Yeah, last night, he kept insisting that he'd made me mad and declared that he'd go through a test to prove his love for me. Since then, he'd been taking every request from me as an order." Selphie spoke with an uncharacteristic frown. "I thought it was kinda nice and funny, so I joked about castration … and he actually went to look for a knife!"

Everyone on the table winced, especially the boys. Even Zell had snapped up into a sitting position, frowning.

"Fuck! Tilmitt, that is _not _funny!" Seifer swore, receiving another slap from Quistis.

"Then, doesn't that mean he's passed the test?" Rinoa joined in weakly, her mind working passed the gruesome imagination about the couple's conversation.

"I thought so, too!" Selphie exclaimed, hitting the table. "But he said he hadn't as long as … it is uncut. And I couldn't let him cut it so in the end he decided that the test wasn't done. He's no fun anymore."

"Maybe it was the alcohol speaking." Quistis offered. "Alcohol could have quite an effect on a person's mind."

Rinoa's ears perked up at this. She remembered the time she was in Mr. Night's room.

"_Don't __**ever **__drink again!" _His voice had been a shout, and she had cringed in astonishment. That had been the first time she had ever heard him use such a loud volume. And he spared no time to show her that he was truly angry, and it quickly turned into a lecturing session about how she couldn't hold her liquor so she could be taken advantaged of. All the romantic reminiscence about the rainy day in the greenhouse had been extinguished and replaced with harsh reality. The calm and kind brother had been gone, only leaving a raging teacher, who had scolded her right down to the irresponsible act of leaving her room without the key. Well, she hadn't realized that she had left her key in her room with the spider also.

The lecture had finally ended when Mr. Night told her that she must remember to thank Ciel for changing her clothes and taking care of her after she had vomited all over. Hyne, did she feel like a complete burden. And then … The events made her smile again. She had mentioned the dream to him, telling him that he had been the one who had saved her from the nightmare. She had told him that she knew he had stayed by her side and lulled her back to sleep after she had awoken the first time. _"Oh, you remember?"_ He had asked, showing the tiniest hint of embarrassment. It had felt really nice to be worried about, and she couldn't help her tears. She hated being such a crybaby.

By that time, Mr. Night had walked around the tabled and sat next to her, his gentle hand patting her head. Slowly, he drew her into his embrace and rubbed circles into her back as her tears dampened the front of his shirt.

Rinoa was completely unaffected by her surroundings as she sat smiling at nothing in particular. Her blissful face ticked him off. She was probably thinking about that guy again, and that aggravated him to no end. He shouldn't be feeling these emotions at all, so why was he? Everything was ridiculous and unreasonable. He couldn't take it, he couldn't bear not understanding anything. Though the thought angered him, he had to run. Squall Leonhart never ran away from anything, and yet, he was willing to this time. Anything to leave behind this bunch of perplexity.

"Selphie." He called the girl, who was shaking her head at something Zell said. When he had gotten her attention, he continued. "I want a peaceful, uncrowded ride to Dollet."

"What?" The petite girl shrieked. "How is that possible?"

"Make it."

"Wait, Squall, you're going on the trip?" Rinoa asked in astonishment, but he ignored her.

"That's ridiculous!" Selphie exclaimed, shooting up to her feet. "The number of ships hired for the trip would be a minimum to save money! It's _supposed_ to be crowded!"

Squall sat coolly, holding his hand out to Seifer. "Phone." The blond opened his mouth to protest, but he shut the guy up with the deadliest glare he could muster. Along with the phone came a short curse from Seifer, but he paid it no heed. If Selphie thought the conversation was over, it wasn't. Squall fluently tapped in his own number and called his own phone. In the quietness of the table, a catchy ringtone sounded, and everyone could recognize that it was the infamous _Train Song_. Selphie's face paled comically as Squall flicked out his ringing phone.

"A peaceful trip. _Leader's_ order."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Rant: <strong>Naw~, he's jealous and doesn't even know the word, how cute.

**Squall: I. Will. Kill. You.**

Well geez, what a way to talk to the one who's gonna lead you down the path of true love.

**Squall: She had an _indirect kiss _with that OC of yours.**

I didn't know you're so possessively uptight!

**Night: Squall, I do have a name, you know.**

**Irvine: What? We don't know your name! We only know that your surname is Nightsphere, which suspiciously sounds like a part of the stupid Night[insertobjecthere] name variation, and that Rinoa adoringly calls you Mr. Night.**

Not cool, Kinneas. Not cool.

**Night: Yeah, it's not nice.**

**Irvine: You know what's uncool? Making me go search for a knife! That was completly random and ridiculous! You only put that in because cutting my hair wasn't funny enough!**

Er ... welp, no comment. Teehee.

**Irvine: Don't act cute with me.**

**Night: Leave her alone.**

**Squall: Whatever. Rinoa's virtue's at stake here. Listen, Nightsphere. Teacher or not, stay the hell away from her.**

Oh, sure talks a lot more now, doesn't he?

**Night: Sure does.**

**Irvine: Just curious, why do you keep agreeing with her?**

**Night: Cause I'm smart.**

Ahem, so anyways. You've finished reading Spell 4. And here's the answer to Irvine's question. Night's full name is *drumrolls*

NIGHT Nightsphere.

Weird huh? But this surely clears up some addressing confusions, right?


	6. Hate

**Chapter V: Hate**

She stomped along the busy hallway that led to the Faculty Room, where everyone was eagerly submitting their applications for the school trip. Upon thinking about the event during breakfast, she puffed up her cheek and jumped in place to vent off her aggravation – the weird looks others were giving her were the least of her worries. It was only the second day at school so why did she have to feel _so _much disgruntlement?

Their leader was in rebellious mode. Okay, so she might have pushed his buttons a _tiny _bit too much … fine, a lot, but he didn't need to snap like that. Squall was such a buzz kill, and to think she had just gotten into a better mood earlier. What made him think he could get a _peaceful, uncrowded ride, _as he'd so put it, while others had to hustle and bustle just for a place on one of the ships? Sure, he was good at almost everything he did, no wonder people admired, looked up, idolized, what-have-you him, but that was it. He was still a student; a _normal_ student with no privileges whatsoever. _Leader's order? _He should've just said _you've broken the deal so I'm out._

This hadn't been a good start for her school year. First, her attempt on Irvine went wrong and now their leader blackmailed her. However, the thing that bothered her the most was undoubtedly her boyfriend. He just aggravated her for some unknown reason and no matter what she tried to tell herself, an ugly feeling still lingered. Quistis and Seifer, though they were always bickering, seemed so happy, so content together. She wondered why she couldn't like that with her cowboy. Even with Irvine constantly showering her with attention, she was somehow still dissatisfied.

Selphie stomped one last time before pacing into the FR.

It was very busy inside, with students signing up for the trips and teachers trying to sort the numerous applications out. However, there was one particular desk that was void of humans – her homeroom teacher's. To her horror, there was a stack of neatly organized paper, which painfully resembled application forms. She might have had dawdled and stopped here and there but was she really that late? She knew Mr. Night was good with paperwork, but to have finished when the whole FR was still so busy was just _too_ fast!

Selphie resisted the urge to slap herself and walked out. Definitely not a good start. A failed plan, being blackmailed and now she was late for the sign up … She brought both her hands up and slapped her face, _hard. _This wasn't like her, Selphie Tilmitt did not mope. "Booyaka!" She shouted out at the top of her lungs, throwing her fists into the air with determination before sprinting away. It wasn't like the list had been finalized yet. She would go look for the teacher before that happened, wherever he was. The boy's dorm? The Training Center? The east garden – aka the secret spot? Somewhere in the schoolyard? Headmaster's office? Okay, that place she certainly had no access to … But, _whatever, _she would show Squall she could get them a _peaceful and uncrowded ride._

Nearing the intersection, she accelerated and … slammed straight into a person. Her tackling brought both of them to the ground, with her squashing her victim underneath. It was moments like this that she was glad she was small and light.

"Ow," a woman's voice mumbled as Selphie scuttled back. To her horror, she had just squashed her favorite teacher's beloved sister.

"Oh my Hyne, are you okay, Lilith?" She stood up almost immediately and offered her hand. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking."

The dorm manager ignored the student's help and got up by herself, dusting the invisible dirt off her jeans and blouse. "Ms. Tilmitt, please do not address me in such a casual way. It's Ms. Lunacrast. And no running in the hallway."

"Boo, you're so unfriendly Lilith." _Seriously_, why couldn't she be more like- "Oh. My. Hyne! Oh my Hyne!" Selphie bounced up and down excitedly before lunging towards the dark-haired woman for a bear hug. "Thank you, oh, thank you, Lilith. I'm forever in your debt!" She kissed both of Lilith's cheeks twice, making exaggerated smooching sound.

The manager couldn't mask her confusion and awkwardly fought the embrace but Selphie paid no attention to that. She kissed the woman once last time and bid a hurried farewell to her savior before bolting away. She was so glad, things would work out for sure. _'Just you wait, Squall.'_

* * *

><p>As he sat trying to read the book in his hands, thoughts about her still flooded his mind – thoughts that made him want to get violent and smash something. He still remembered her slender figure from last night, could see it clearly as if it was right before his eyes. But then, he thought about the atmosphere between her and that teacher, how naturally they had acted towards each other, it made him see red and he didn't even know why.<p>

Squall didn't get it. It'd been four years, she'd been there for _four_ long years of his life, so why now did he start to … to … what? What was this feeling? This irritating feeling that he'd never felt before. He just kept thinking about her, his stomach churning and knotting restlessly, and he found himself unable to stay put. It had taken every last bit of his willpower to suppress this uncanny urge to pace. He actually wanted to go see her right now, could even picture himself running up to her like a fool just to refresh his already vivid memory of her – small, slender, milky white skin in contrast with rare jet black hair, delicate facial features, charming brown-

He could have punched himself. For one minute, he had let his mind drift and that rubbish had immediately come pouring out. And this wasn't the first time either. He rubbed his eyes to ward of the sleepiness gripping at him. Delirium? Was he even sane? He couldn't be wanting to see her. He had only been confused because she was … new.

People changed, and she was no exception. She had changed, becoming much bolder, more confident – no doubt, all thanks to that teacher. It was just that her changing … amused him. He just needed to get used to this new side of hers and eventually everything would turn back to normal … At least he hoped so. He couldn't stand himself right now. He kept … wanting to see her.

Yet at the same time, he wanted to avoid her. Hence, he hid here, between the least sought bookshelves in the library, in order not to encounter her.

Knowing Rinoa, she would be running around shopping or packing or … whatever it was that girls did before trips. She had this enthusiasm towards activities like this, and was sure to give it her all. From how he saw it, she had too much energy to spare. Having to do so much just to sightsee was pointless, he wouldn't even consider going if it weren't for Laguna, whereas she could be so zealous about it. _'Well, that's how extroverts are.' _He thought halfheartedly, leaning against the bookcase behind him. Extroverts always radiated with the kind of energy that introverts like him didn't have, he would give anything in order not to have to deal with them. Rinoa was one also, and yet … The corners of his mouth twitched into the slightest of smile. He didn't really mind her …

He shook his head so violently that it left himself disorientated for a moment. He'd done it again! Slamming the parted book on his lap shut, he shoved it off him and sat up straight, ruffling his head in frustration.

Squall clicked his tongue and repeatedly thrust his head backward, into the bookshelf which he'd been leaning against. The blows were painful for the bruise from his fall earlier today, but they weren't enough to snap him out of this insanity like he'd hope. Whatever this was, he had it worse than he'd thought. He bent his legs to give his elbows a place to rest and dropped his head between his arms, hugging the throbbing bump. He might have calmed down a little, but still was no where near his usual self. Just … what was wrong with him?

New things would soon become dull. It'd better come true, because he was prepared to stay away from her for as long as it would take. … He shifted uncomfortably in place. Something inside of him was fiercely opposing the idea, already regretting that resolve. Strangely enough, he found himself questioning his own decision. Would it be okay not to get involved with her anymore? Would shebe okay? Who would step in when Seifer's games got out of hands? … Oh, right, she had that teacher. Then … would _he _be okay?

'_What the.' _He stabbed his fingers into his hair. What was he thinking now? Maybe he should leave, do something to get his mind off things. He couldn't stand staying idle any longer anyway. Sighing, he pushed at the floor and tensed to get up.

"Ah!" A feminine voice floated to his ears and he froze almost instantly. "I never thought I'd see you here."

The girl's voice was agonizingly lovely, almost like a stimulant to his sensitive hearing. He turned his head to let her divine presence grace his vision. She was standing there at the entrance of the aisle, so easily attracted his whole being towards her; her beautifully crafted profile was the sole focus of his vision. His heart pranced wildly, banging at his ribcage. It was a few rounds of heartbeats later than he realized she wasn't looking at him at all, wasn't even facing in his direction, and she … walked away without even taking notice of him between the shelves.

He released a long breath he didn't know he'd been holding and slid back down to the floor like a floppy mound of aspic. The beating inside his chest was almost suffocating, leaving him in bewilderment at his own emotions. He felt not only relief but also … disappointment. This wasn't right. He should be glad she hadn't seen him. Yes, he _should _be. He didn't hide here so that she would come to him. Then again … the whole point of hiding here had just become meaningless the moment he'd seen her. Whatever composure he had managed to gather since two hours ago had disintegrated to naught.

Squall gripped at the front of his shirt, applying force to his chest as thought it would calm his heart down, and let out another sigh. His gaze darted around in confusion. He had never experienced such frantic poundings like this, it was weird … just … wrong. Was he that afraid of her? No, it wasn't fear. It wasn't … Just what was this?

"Rinoa." The sound of this unmistakable low voice wiped his mind clean of any turmoil and instead filled it with more grim frustration.

'_**Him**__ again?' _Squall mused sourly.

"What are you doing here?" Mr. Night asked as she approached him.

"Oh, I thought I'd do some research on Dollet beforehand. You know, the culture, attractions, everything so that me and the gang can check things out once we get there." Rinoa answered with a cheery attitude, happy to see the man regardless of the time and place. "Normally, it's Selphie's job, but she's already got enough on her hands because of … a certain reason." She said, lowering her voice reproachfully near the end.

Squall grimaced at her choice of words. It wasn't like he didn't understand why she had that kind of attitude. He knew he'd made things hard for Selphie, but he had been aggravated, frustrated, confused _and _hung-over – with no way of letting anyone know he had been. So many things were piling on him, he could've only taken so much. He only wanted to fix this mess, and by getting on a different ride than her maybe it would help his situation somehow … Wait, something was not adding up.

"… Your group is going?" The teacher asked, cutting him from his thoughts.

"I don't remember coming by your applications." Mr. Night lowered his gaze contemplatively, scratching his chin.

"What?" Rinoa exclaimed in disbelief before crossing her arm in mock anger. "… Oh, trust Selphie to be punctual."

"No, the registration should still be ongoing. I only finished up early." He admitted with a small grunt, rubbing a hand over his forehead, seemingly having a headache. "So … you're going then?" The disappointment in his tone did not escape her ears.

"Yeah, everyone is." Rinoa smiled.

"Names?" Mr. Night promptly inquired.

"Ah … Quistis, Selphie …" It wasn't strange that he had asked for her friends' names. Just because he was familiar with her didn't mean he would be familiar with her group of friends. After listing out the names, she inputted wryly. "Even Squall. It's really strange you know, he's never participated in anything before, not without a fight." She had just found out that their broody leader was also going on the trip. Although she didn't really have any problem with him joining … To simply put it, things just got a bit … cumbersome?

"… Yeah." The man hummed vaguely, it didn't look like he was really listening to her. "How far have you gotten with your research, then?" He asked. His composed expression didn't show, but in a way, she could tell he was actually hoping that she was almost done. Rinoa hated to be the bringer of bad news, but …

"Nowhere actually," she giggled, feeling a tad guilty that she was finding his hardship to be funny. "I just got here."

On the other side of the shelf, Squall growled at himself. It was as if the sound of her voice had triggered something inside him, his heart foolishly quickened, leaving him tingling with emotions once again. Her carefree laugh wasn't supposed to sound this nice. The way it rung at his eardrums … he just wished he was the one conversing with her right now. _'Damn.' _He stabbed a hand though his hair. Why was this getting to him? Why did he let it? To go so low as to envy that teacher.

"Oh …" Mr. Night said dismissively and turned to leave. "Carry on then."

"No no, it's fine. You need something right?" Rinoa hastily held out her hand to stop him and cringed as soon as she realized what she had just done. Had she sounded a tad too eager? She sure hoped her questionable enthusiasm about this hadn't crept him out. Really, she didn't think she could survive a year in Garden if Mr. Night were to start avoiding her like some sort of plague.

"It's nothing." He assured firmly, raising his hand in a halfhearted goodbye and turned away. "I'll see you in Dollet."

"What? Now, wait just a minute." She hurriedly stopped him, grabbing his wrist and whirled around to stand in his way. "Mr. Night-"

"Rinoa, please, just my name is fine." He corrected gently and looked at his watch, clearly trying to change the subject. "I should be going. Good luck with your-"

"Okay, _Night_! Tell me, what is it?" She interjected, not caring if she was being overly insistent. It might not be a very good trait of hers, but she couldn't stand people she knew not opening up to her. "Something's bothering you."

Squall scoffed under his breath. Rinoa was sticking her nose into business that wasn't hers, and somehow, he had the impression that she would even pay to be able to help that teacher. His lips curled into a wry smirk even though there was nothing humorous about the entire thing. Every single second he spent listening to them only served to push his irritation further, yet still he couldn't bring himself to leave, didn't want to be in the dark. He wanted to know the outcome of their conversation, which was already quite predictable at the time. Nonetheless, a very, very hopeful part of him was praying that she couldn't help Night in the end. He just felt that the less time she interacted with the man the better. In fact, they shouldn't even get involved with each other at all.

"… You have your research." Mr. Night let out a breath and held up both of his palms to her, signaling his defeat. "I think you should mind that first."

"The research isn't really important," she was quick to answer. "We could always ask the locals about the attractions when we get there."

Much to Squall's dismay, she would even forsake her friends for the blond. He couldn't believe that she could be so irresponsible! And why was he still sitting here listening to them anyway? Squall grumbled silently and stood up. For his own sake, he needed to leave right this instant.

"Are you sure? … What about your preparation for the trip?" The teacher asked after a moment of hesitation.

"I'm all packed n' ready." Rinoa replied cheerily. "I can't wait to set sail. It'll be my first time on a ship!"

"… Fine." Night seemed to have shaken of his reluctance, or at least had given up on refusing his student's help. "Come."

"Alright!"

_Alright? _If hewasn't avoiding the girl, Squall would have burst right through the bookshelves to slap some sense into her. What was she thinking? Didn't she have the slightest concern as to where the guy was leading her to?

Then it hit him. Those two were leaving, and doubtlessly would pass by the aisle that he was in. Though he was quite confident that his dark choice of clothing would help him blend in with this badly lit corner, he still couldn't risk the chances. He didn't really understand how being caught listening in on them would affect him at all, but in a sense, this was eavesdropping and something he shouldn't have done … But didn't they walked in on him first?

Their shadows protruded from behind the shelves and all arguments ended instantly inside his head – all he cared about was not to let himself be detected. His eyes fell onto the book he'd left lying on the floor, and he grabbed it.

"The thing is-" The blond halted as something caught his attention from the corner of his eyes. Looking into the slight darkness of the aisle, he could make out a lone figure lying quite uncomfortably on the floor. It was quite a wonder how anyone could be sleeping in a position like that, but he decided to leave them alone. His student, however, had something to say about the sight.

"Oh … it's Squall." Rinoa said coldly, making Squall's heart leapt and he involuntarily jumped from the suddenness of it. Hoping he hadn't given away any indication that he was actually awake, he tried to keep himself very still as thought by doing so could erase his existence. She recognized him? Even when he was showing them his back? Something churned inside him, but in a good way … kind of. He might just be speculating too much but still … She recognized him by just looking at his back – the notion strangely delighted him, even filling him with an inexplicable sense of contentment.

Night scratched the back of his neck in amazement. There was a medium-sized book covering the boy's head, making it almost impossible to know for sure who it was. Nonetheless, with Rinoa's statement, he did begin to take notice of the Squall-ish features. "Seems he's sleeping." He commented, unwittingly assuring the feigning brunette that his pretense was effective still.

"… He'd better be." Rinoa muttered under her breath, but he still heard it. Why did she sound so … hostile? Deciding that the kids were simply having one of those petty arguments, he kept his thoughts to himself and, with an awkward cough, said. "Well …we should wake him up."

"No!" She replied immediately, averting her gaze for a moment. He was surprised at how quickly that answer had come. A few seconds later, Rinoa turned her head towards the sleeping boy and sighed. "Let's just leave him alone. He'd prefer that."

Night glanced at the figure in the corner and habitually brought his hand up to squeeze his shoulder. He wondered what could have happened that could make Rinoa so riled up. Looking back to his student, he froze. His eyes widened in consternation at what he saw, but before he could utter a word, the girl whipped her head away again.

"I just … hate him … is all." Rinoa grabbed his elbow and pulled him along with her, mumbling something like. "Let's just leave … Night."

"R-Rinoa?"

The two sets of footsteps gradually faded in volume before disappearing completely, leaving Squall in the quiet desolation of the library. He slowly took the parted book off of his face and sat up straight. Closing the book, he stood up and was calm to replace it into the shelf. Numbness coiled around his chest, clouding his mind. He staidly walked out with only one prominent thought amidst the haze.

Stay away from her.

* * *

><p>In a quiet bedroom of A wing, a solitary tune softly echoed.<p>

"Yes, Ray?" The blonde answered the phone, confidently addressing the caller. "Oh, that's great. Then I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She smiled at something the person at the other end said.

It was different. There was something different from Celeste's normal smile that her antenna could pick up. An air of security, a smitten expression. Standing half-hidden at the door way, she felt her lips curving upwards. Eavesdropping was bad, she knew, but this was too good to miss. She could feel it, could even smell it. Love was in the air.

"I know that look." She spoke up as soon as the woman placed her cell phone down onto the nightstand next to her bed.

Celeste's slender figure jumped, and she whipped around to face the perpetrator, her flustered face quickly became relaxed the moment she realized who it was. "Hyne, Selphie. You scared me." She breathed.

Selphie said nothing in return, but instead circled around the woman like a predator would its prey. With a knowing smirk, she approached Celeste and poked at the woman's cheek. "Who was that, Ciel?" She asked with a smug tone. "That Ray whose name you called so lovingly."

"… I did not." Celeste got defensive, heat suddenly colored her cheeks.

"I knew it! You have a boyfriend!" Selphie exclaimed excitedly, tackling the woman onto the bed. "Who is he? Tell me! Do I know him? Does he work here? How long have you been together? How come you haven't told me about it? Where are you two meeting? When is it? Can I come? Is he handsome? He must be, right? Since you're so beautiful, only a model would suit you! Oh my Hyne. Don't tell me he is one-"

"Shush!" Celeste interjected with a serious tone, pushing a finger at the younger girl's lips. "Easy tiger, I'm not telling you anything. Now get off me."

"Aaaw, but Ciel!" She whined, but the same finger immediately hushed her again.

"No. It's … a secret, his and mine." The blonde's gaze drifted as she said so. Selphie could tell that Celeste was obviously thinking about some sweet, sweet moment with the man in question, and her grin only got wider. She was a sucker for romance, even more so when it was not her own. Because others' romance were always swoon-worthy and she could fantasize about what could happen, while her own love life was just a drop from cloud nine with reality as the concrete beneath …

"You don't pry anymore, okay?" Celeste said, breaking her out of her reverie. She pouted at the older woman, but nodded anyway. Celeste giggled and brought her hands up to pinch both of Selphie's cheeks. "Please?" She cooed. "I would be so very sad if he gets mad at me. Boohoo."

"Alright, alright, sheesh, I won't pry." Selphie hurriedly recued her face and rolled off the teacher. "You're so mean, Ciel. You know I don't like baby-talking." It sprung from the lacking of her height. Since little, she had always been smaller than her friends, and people would treat her lightly. She hated that. It was only because Celeste was her favorite teacher that she wasn't throwing a tantrum right now.

"Sorry, sorry." Celeste smiled apologetically. "But really, Selph. He doesn't want me to talk about it, so I won't."

"I understand." She answered dispiritedly. "Then Ciel, I have something-" _Train Song_ suddenly played, interrupting her. The happy melody filled the quiet room, and she felt the need to headbutt a … pillow, because ramming her head against the wall would be very painful. Who was it that had such impeccable timing? She was just getting to a very important part of her reason for being here. She had to tell Celeste as soon as possible, or she might lose the chance to shove things back into Squall's face.

However, the moment she saw the caller's ID, her mood changed immediately. "Rinoa, how are you getting- What, you can't? Why!" She demanded, bouncing on her teacher's bed. "Oh my _Hyne! _That is awesome. No no no, don't even talk back to me Rinny." She wagged her finger as if her friend was right in front of her. "I just know you can't keep your little head out of the gutter … Oh, how rude! I do too have an innocent mind, as pure as Trabian snow." Selphie huffed, placing her free hand onto her hip. She wanted to tease Rinoa some more, but the other girl didn't gave her the time space for another word. Instructions poured out from the phone's speaker in a hurry and Selphie feared she couldn't understand half of what was being said. As soon as she stopped talking, Rinoa hung up without even a word of goodbye.

Selphie blankly removed the cell phone from her ear to look at it. A smile crept up on her face. Things were _totally _working out for her – _and _she sensed another romance around the corner, how exciting! Pocketing the device, she turned back to her beloved teacher and beamed. "Ciel, you know, Squall was really mean."

Celeste didn't answer, she seemed to be deep in thought. Selphie tilted her head and poked at her chin in wonder. Before she could say anything, the woman looked up to her and raised one eyebrow, looking very serious. "Selphie," blue gaze narrowed at her almost incredulously, and she gulped, afraid she had done something wrong. Celeste gave her a frown composed from what seemed like confusion. "… How did you get into my room?"

'… _She only realizes that __**now**__?'_

* * *

><p>"Seifer, do you even know what a Tonberry looks like?" Quistis said with crossed arms.<p>

"Um, excuse me. Two more hot dogs, please!" Zell waved enthusiastically, stuffing himself with hotdogs to make up for breakfast.

"Not really, but they must be very cool, right?" The blond admitted offhandedly. "Since you like them. Maybe like Bahamut?"

"Ooh man, that babe over there is hawt!" Irvine adjusted his hat to shade somewhat of his scrutinizing gaze.

"No. I like them because they are _adorable._" She corrected calmly with a sigh of mock pity. "Really, whoever said you were like a Tonberry must be blind, or a very strange sense of aesthetic."

"… On second thought, make it a ten!" Zell's voice rang in-between.

"… Aes- what?" Seifer squinted in incomprehension.

"Must be a freshman. Ne'er seen her before." The cowboy whistled.

"Okay, I am done talking to you." She waved at him dismissively and turned away.

Seifer fell back into his chair and stuffed both hands into his pockets, scowling. He may have acted normal enough, but his displeasure was roiling within him. That girl was going to pay. She dared to call him a Tonberry? Not only was the thing not cool, it was even _cute _– an adjective that he never, ever wanted to see or hear in the same sentence as his name. And worse of all, Quistis had had no reluctance in showing her disdain with the fact that he was being likened to that creature, which she claimed to love so much. By Hyne, she liked a monster more than her own boyfriend! _'Heartilly, just you wait.'_

"So, why are we here again, Leonhart?" He asked, putting his legs up on the cafeteria table, tilting his chair.

Squall, who had been trying to shut out his friends' antics, lifted his face from his arms and glared at Seifer. Perceiving the same damned position that had lead to this painful bump on the back of his head, he just wished that Seifer's chair also fell. Better yet, he even imagined himself kicking the chair's leg to bring about that same tragedy on the blond. However, it remained a thought as he wordlessly took out his phone and, after sliding his thumb over the screen, threw it onto the table.

Just his luck that, when he had finally decided to go back to his room for a nap, he'd received a certain phone call. He resisted a frustrated groan and propped his chin with his knuckles, paying no heed to the friends gathering closer around the table. After a singular beep, the phone 'said' with Selphie's voice. _"Squall, cafeteria."_

Silence commenced. Everyone glanced briefly at each other in confusion, and two seconds later, they finally realized _that_ was the whole content of the voice mail. Quistis sighed, putting a hand to her forehead, Zell rolled his eyes and resumed his munching, and Irvine just scratched his head. Now they truly understand why _Over and out _was needed in telecommunication.

"That's it?" Seifer raised his voice in disbelief, picking the phone up to look at the screen. "Squall, you do realize that Train Girl addressed only _you_, right? Why did you have to pull us all out here? Not everyone is as free as you." Receiving no respond from sullen brunette, he was about to say something smart when another beep sounded. _"Oh everyone!" _The phone 'added' as if to mock him. Seifer expression scrunched up dangerously, and he turned to the others. "… This call was made fucking thirty minutes ago. Brilliant. Cowboy, your girl's simply brilliant. I sure can see why you're so willing to geld for her."

"Hey, keep me out of it." Irvine hit the table and retorted with a rare temper. "I keep telling you, I _never _said anything like that. I was slightly drunk and _may _have hummed when she said something about castration, but that does _not_ count as acceptance."

"Sure, and Chickenwuss declares he's sick of wieners." Seifer scoffed.

"Figgin' ell, ow di I ge invol?" Zell exclaimed with a mouth full of hotdogs.

"Alright, how would _you _react if Quistis told you to cut-"

The long-haired brunette shot back, but the slightly flustered blonde interjected as soon as she realized where the conversation, if you could call it that, was steering into. "_O-_kay." Quistis said loudly, standing up to gain more attention. "All _jokes_ asides, why don't we think about what had Selphie called us out for, or at least why she hadn't shown up?" A poor change of subject, she knew, but there wasn't exactly anything else they could do in an empty afternoon cafeteria.

"Hyne knows." The scarred blond shrugged without a care, reaching for the snacks on the table and took a handful into his mouth. "I've already given up on predicting what crazy stuff she'd pull us all into. But this'd better be good, making me wait for so long."

Irvine slumped back into his chair and pulled his hat so that it shaded his face even more to hide his frown. He considered himself an easygoing guy. Normally, he wouldn't be affected by Selphie's pranks, wouldn't even give a damn about them, but hadn't she gone too far this time? Joking about emasculating after knocking down a few bottles was one thing, but to tell their friends about it and even bending the truth … He would have a talk with her the next time they get some time alone.

"Maybe it's got something to do with the trip." Came a surprisingly contributive statement from Zell. "I think I saw her looking quite distressed. Man, she was jumping and stomping in front of the FR, and everybody was looking so intensely that I didn't dare come near her." The table went silent as the others wondered if the blond actually had any idea _that _was what they felt daily towards him.

"… Zell, did you get into trouble again?" Quistis inquired sharply.

"W-where did that come from?" He replied defensively.

"Oh, yeah. Now that you said it." Irvine joined in with obvious interest. "Zell floundering near the FR could only mean one thing."

"Cool! You kicked Wroth in the face again?" Seifer excitedly sat up straight, slapping the table in satisfactory. "Chickenwuss, you know, that's the only thing I respect about you."

"Quiet, Seifer." His girlfriend stressed, wagging her finger like a mother scolding her child. "Kicking a teacher is not something to admire."

"But kicking Wroth _is _something." Irvine inputted.

"Irvine, not you too." Quistis exhaled with a glare and the cowboy immediately closed his mouth, making a motion of zipping it.

"No! I was only there to sign someone up for the trip! Oh, thanks miss." Zell half-shouted and turned to receive his dogs from the cafeteria lady. It wasn't like he conspired against Wroth or anything. It just happened that he had _accidentally _kicked the teacher for more than his hands could count … "Anyways …" He placed the plate down on the table and immediately bit off half a hotdog. "I eard tha Woth won e ac ere til Ocyoer." He swallowed. "Don't jinx me, guys. This year, I won't kick him again unless I want to!"

"So … you're still gonna kick him then?" Seifer asked hopefully.

"Seifer!" Quistis placed both hands onto her hips and he quickly held up both of his hands in a gesture of peace, his expression saying _What did I do?_

Everyone then became quiet and returned to minding their own business. Irvine grabbed an opened snack packet for himself and ate it without much enthusiasm. Seifer gave a big yawn and pulled his chair closer to Quistis, who frowned at his leaning against her but made no comment about it nonetheless. She picked up a small piece of corn cracker and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger before nibbling it little by little. Zell seemed to have nearly had his fill of hotdogs as his eating speed had slowed and he was gulping down some coke.

Squall unconsciously fiddled with the bits of crackers on the table, his mind haunted by the event back in the library. She had said them so softly, yet in the quietness of the place, the words were loud enough to stab right through his chest. It hurt. He had no idea she felt that way about him. Sure, she was kind of awkward around him at times but … Hate? He wouldn't be surprised if she said she hated Seifer. _Him_? What had he ever done to her?

He hardened his jaw and grinded the pieces of snack under his finger into even smaller bits, trying to keep his face straight. Hypocrite. Acting all smiley and cute in front of him, but in truth was inwardly cursing his existence. But then … why should he care? She was a friend, and when he learned the shocking truth that she actually hated him, wow, big deal. _Why_ should he care? They were never even close. People could be his friends one day and stab him in the back the next, and now Rinoa had become one very prominent example for that. So … how should he explain this empty feeling that was weighing down on his chest?

She hated him. That phrase had been revolving inside his head, making him restless. It was irksome that she hated him for no reason. He had never done anything to her, and even if he had, it shouldn't be anywhere near Seifer's level. It wasn't fair, her attitude wasn't fair. Why would she hate him? If anything, she should be grateful that he had stopped Seifer from going any further with his games.

He grunted softly and closed his eyes. This was affecting him, bad. Questions kept on popping up left and right, yet he hadn't the answer to any of them.

"…" Suddenly sensing a heavy atmosphere surrounding their table, Irvine scratched his neck and broke the silence. "It's … kinda quiet, eh?"

"Well, since Selphie isn't here, it's understandable." Zell shrugged and stuffed the last of the hotdogs into his mouth.

"Yeah, and Rinoa, too." The glassed-blonde replied, trying to finish the cracker that didn't exactly suit her taste. "I gotta admit those two are our mood-setters. I wonder why Rinoa also hasn't come yet. Hope it's nothing bad."

"Psh, who cares." Seifer took the half-eaten cracker from Quistis and finished it with one bite, receiving an angry yet thankful frown from her. "She's prolly sticking to some guy. Didn't see her in her room. 'Sides, by not turning up she's not wasting time waiting like the rest of us, it's her gain."

"That's rude, Seifer." Quistis said with a disagreeing shake. Turning to their dozing leader, she asked. "Squall, did you manage to reach her?"

Squall showed the slightest sign of acknowledgement but said nothing. He had tried to contact her, though quite reluctantly. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure how to act towards her anymore, he just became so conflicted every time she was involved. To his relief, she'd seemed to have left her phone somewhere and hadn't been there to pick it up. So, after three rings, he'd thankfully hung up. … Okay so he hadn't exactly _tried,_ but at least he had sent her a message, and if she'd had any access to her phone, she would have been here by now. Seifer's insult wasn't far off from reality. Wherever Rinoa was now, it would be with that teacher.

He wondered why only now that he realized how annoying that man's attitude was. Always expressionless and acting nonchalant, the only thing good about him was his face. She had no eyes for men at all. There were many rumors concerning Night flying around the dorm, like … Whatever. The point was that she was blinded by love- No, not love. It was infatuation. Compared to the man, he was clearly better, better because … Why was he comparing himself with Night?

"Squall?" Quistis voice broke through his clouds of thoughts.

"… No answers." He replied simply, looking away from the table.

"Is something wrong? You're being awfully quiet." She said with concern.

'_I'm always quiet.' _He raised one eyebrow at her, slightly annoyed. Reading his mind, the blonde continued. "Don't give me that look, Squall. You're _too_ quiet, even for yourself."

"Yeah, if something's bothering you, tell us. That's what friends are for." Irvine said, leaning towards him, with Zell following suit as if readied to hear him spill his most inner secrets.

He appreciated their thoughts, but in all honesty, the library incident had made him very wary of 'friends'. It could be that they hated him too. If that were the case, confiding in them would make him look like a fool. Before he could open his mouth to brush them off, a familiar annoying shout rang out.

"Booyaka!" Came Selphie's tempestuous arrival. She was punching the air as she began jumping around their table. They were so glad the cafeteria currently had very few students. By all mean, they didn't want to create the impression that they were a bunch of idiots in front of the freshmen. "Oh my Hysh, I am so proud of myself. Yay me. Woo-hoo! This is awesome!" The perky girl stopped right before a narrow-eyed Squall and jabbed her finger at the bridge of his nose. "In your face, Squall!"

Everything then fell into silence as everyone then took notice of the ominous air their leader was exuding. Selphie, despite being the most oblivious individual to Squall's anger, had also realized the chilling look he was giving her and awkwardly withdrew her hand to the safety of her neck, smiling inanely at him. He was in a _veeery _bad mood.

"S-so, anyways!" She abruptly turned to the rest of the group and announced proudly. "You guys, go back and get your packing done ASAP! We are leaving tomorrow morning! 6AM sharp! We are going to Dollet, baby!" She threw her hands into the air merrily.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Zell was the first to responded, standing up from his seat and joining her in pumping hands. But their celebration quickly disintegrated as everyone else remained silent, showing not an ounce of excitement. "… What's wrong?" He asked in confusion, scratching his spiky head.

"Calm down both of you." Quistis sighed, adjusting her glasses. "Zell, you do realize that the departure is at 9, _PM_. So, I believe some explanations are in order, Selphie."

"Sheesh, can't even let me have my moment." Selphie huffed, folding her arms in mock anger. "I'm getting there, Quisty dear." She then tapped rapidly onto the table to make a drum roll for herself. As soon as the drumming stopped, she held up her fingers to form a V and declared. "We are going to have. A. Peaceful. And. Uncrowded. Ride!"

It became quiet once more, everyone was stunned at her declaration. "Booya!" Zell bounced up, his excitement rising even higher than before. "That's great, Selph! You're the best."

Squall diverted his gaze away and let out a breath. _That _was what got her all riled up? Getting the ride was good, and he didn't really care what came after that. The most important thing was that Rinoa would not be there … Had she just said the _group _was going? His eyes widened in realization and he shot up to his feet, so abruptly that it startled all of his friends. Before anyone could give any comment, he grabbed Selphie by the arm and dragged her away from the table, leaving the gang flabbergasted at his sudden activeness.

"W-what is it, Squall?" The smaller brunette finally snapped out of her stupor and asked, almost cowering before the taller boy, afraid that she had done something wrong.

"Don't tell me everyone is on that ride." He grated with the fiercest glare she had ever seen him use, and she cringed. However, the moment the meaning of his words sank in, she tilted her head in perplexity.

"Well, if by everyone you mean our group then, yeah. Of course." She poked at her own cheek in a wondering manner. "Why wouldn't that be so?"

…

Her question was like a Wendigo sucker-punching him in the face. He _knew _there was something wrong about his logic. He had been so keen on avoiding Rinoa that he had lost sight of one simple fact. Wherever he went, his friends would also be there, and those friends sadly included the source of his woes, Rinoa. He truly had dug his own grave. Not only was he going to be on the same ride as her, he was going to be on a ride where the likeliness of encountering her might be higher than ever.

"Squall …" Selphie started, fidgeting as she searched for the best way to phrase her thoughts. "You didn't tell me to … get the ride for … only you … did you?"

Yes, that was exactly what he had asked for. A peaceful and uncrowded ride for him. It was only now that he realized how absurd he must have sounded. Though quite reluctantly, he wasn't a lone wolf who only had himself to think about … not anymore.

"Geez …" Selphie tapped the floor awkwardly with her toe cap before crossing her arms and huffed. "I never knew you're _that _selfish, Squall."

He placed a hand onto his hip and looked away, unable to face her anymore. Shame wasn't enough to describe what he was feeling. He had spent six years of his childhood with a true doting parent yet _now _he chose to be a spoiled brat. Glancing back at the cross-armed girl, who was patiently waiting with a hint of mock anger, he dropped his shoulders. "… Sorry." He said finally, relieved that her expression melted into a wide smile almost instantly. "I don't think I was in my right mind." He confessed. _'I don't even think I am now__**.'**_

"It's okay, as long as you know." She patted his arm understandingly.

Squall looked away, his mind frantically searching for a solution to the mess he had gotten himself into. Why did every plan he thought up to avoid Rinoa keep blowing up in his face? Nothing was working. It was as if Fate was playing with him. After all this trouble of being unreasonable, and even looking like a spoiled brat, he would still be on the same ship as Rinoa. Why did he even bother?

"Um, Squall. If we're done here, how about going back to the table?" Selphie suggested, interrupting his thoughts. "The guys are looking quite impatient-"

He clicked his tongue and spat. "I'm not going!" That would work for sure. There was no way their paths would cross if she and he were on different continents.

"What!" The smaller brunette exclaimed. She was agape at Squall's attitude. Had he eaten something wrong during the summer?

Squall gritted his teeth, wiping a hand over his face. It wouldn't work. Laguna was depending on him to gather the needed information. A swift thought about shirking his duty appeared inside his head, but he quickly brushed it away. That would be too irresponsible. _'Damn.'_ "No … no, I'm going." He mumbled.

"Okay, Squall." Selphie breathed in deeply. "For Hyne's sake, make up your mind!"

"I already said I'm going, damn it." Squall grated out in a low tone, his intimidating aura easily extinguished any audacity she had against him. This was all wrong. Why had he even volunteered anyway? Without him, Laguna would still have found some other way to get the info. When he thought about it, what exactly had compelled him to volunteer for the job? He was sure he hadn't felt anything close to wanting to help his parent out, like a good son should. On a whim, then? He really should learn to be whimsical at the right time. Just because of that whim, he now risked spending a whole two days with …

Realization dawned on him. This may sound insane but … he might have offered to go to Dollet for Laguna in order to … be there with Rinoa? _'W-why?' S_uddenly feeling faint, he brought a hand up to his forehead. Why would he? This wasn't right at all. There must be some other explanation.

Selphie was starting to take notice of her friend's lethargic face. She had sensed that something was wrong ever since Squall had called her to announce he wanted to be on the trip, no, even before that. Still, she had ignored it, telling herself it was nothing. However, now, it seemed that what she had feared had already come true. Hesitantly, she asked. "Squall, be honest, okay?" Gaining the boy's attention, she continued. "This … has something to do with Rinoa, doesn't it?" His eyes widened, almost in consternation, and she knew she was right.

His mouth parted in an attempt to speak, but nothing came out. Myriads of questions exploded inside his head and incredulity rose steadily. He wanted to deny, but it was too late now. The pause had given everything away, his silence was nothing more that a loud and clear _Yes. _Regaining somewhat of his composure, he quickly masked his face and frowned. "How did you know?"

The girl was startled by the anger underlying his calm tone. She stuttered. "I-it's written all over your face! L-look, I don't care how you know that she's going with Mr. Night, but you don't have to act so extreme-"

"What?" Squall cut her off, his harsh stare made her feel like a boulder was shoved down her throat. Selphie whimpered and backed away, but Squall didn't let her. His hand shot out and nabbed her arm, keeping her in place. "What did you just say?" He glowered.

"Er … I …" Selphie was no doubt frightened. Looking at his menacing expression, a part of her knew she had to give him a quick answer, but her tongue simply just refused to cooperate with her.

"Easy now, Squall." Irvine suddenly stepped in, placing a hand onto the firm grip Squall had on Selphie. It seemed like their friends had taken noticed of the strange atmosphere between the two of them, and Irvine was the first to arrive. "Let's all calm down and talk things through, okay? No need to get violent." The cowboy's expression, though bewildered at his friend's temper, was very willful. As soon as Squall's hands loosened, Selphie hurried scurried back to hide behind her boyfriend, feeling very thankful for his interjection. She wasn't sure why Squall was so worked up. Hadn't he already known that Rinoa had already gone ahead to the harbor with Mr. Nightsphere? She had thought that was the case, since Squall was so agitated … but now, she wasn't so sure anymore. If he didn't know, then nothing would add up.

"… R-Rinoa, she's …" She tried to say from behind Irvine.

"What happened here, Squall?" Quistis asked, approaching the three with Zell and Seifer in tow.

"Raising your hand against a woman, didn't know you had it in you." Seifer scoffed, spilling his insult at the worst time possible. Squall felt something inside him snap and grabbed the blond's shirt collar, pushing him into a nearby wall. Quistis and Selphie gasped as Zell hastily ran up to the two boys. "Y-yo, man. Cool it down, both of you!" He said, trying to pry Squall away from Seifer to no avail.

"Beat it, Chickenwuss." Seifer shoved Zell back and smirked at his attacker with grim challenge. "I don't mind continuing where we left off five years ago. Want me to make that an X?"

"Stop it, Seifer! Don't push him any further." Quistis ordered as she walked up to them. Placing her hand onto Squall's shoulder, she said softly, but firmly. "Squall, don't make a scene. We're all gonna be in trouble if this gets any bigger."

Squall didn't relent. He felt so much annoyance at the blond whose neck was in his grasp. Always talking shit, why did he even put up with this bastard to this day? "Squall?" Hearing Quistis's authoritative voice stressed his name, his scowl became even deeper. However, he quickly perceived their surroundings. Students were gathering, and though their number was small, it was only a matter of time before someone called a teacher over. He glared at Seifer one last time and retracted his hand, turning to leave immediately.

"A puppy you saved bit you in the ass?" He heard Seifer mocked him from behind, and stilled, grounding his teeth in serious consideration about punching the blond.

"Seifer!" Quistis slapped Seifer's arm, but he paid her no heed. He only watched the brunette's back, waiting eagerly to see if he would get some kind of reaction.

Squall felt as if he could kill. He curled his hands into fist and walked away, grazing his shoulder against Zell's. As he passed by Irvine and Selphie, he stopped and gazed at the small girl, making her flinch and hid herself behind the cowboy's back even more. Irvine slightly raised his arm to the side to cover for her, warily looking back at Squall. With adrenaline still pumping inside his system, he did his best to ignore Irvine and asked once more. "Before," upon hearing his voice, Selphie jumped, but poked her head out to listen nonetheless. "What did you say?"

"W-well." She said meekly, gripping Irvine's shirt, showing no sign of her usual carefree self. "Rinoa called … told me that she would be going to the harbor with Mr. Nightsphere first. He needed help, she said. So she won't be going to Dollet on the same ride as us. B-but didn't you, like, know this … already …? Eeep." Her voice faltered under Squall's eyes.

He exhaled and strode to the exit. The students that had gathered were pushing each other to make way for him as if he were some sort of tyrant, and his mood only worsened. Absolutely nothing was going right for him this year. He couldn't understand himself, couldn't think straight, and … he didn't even care right now. Rinoa had gone to the harbor _alone_ with Night. What was she thinking? And that guy, what kind of pathetic teacher sought help from a student?

"W-wait, Squall!" Selphie's voice shakily reached him, and he stopped, waiting to hear what she had to say. "… Are you still … going?"

Was he going? Why not? That little imp wouldn't on the ship anyway. He turned around to see that the smaller brunette had followed him through the crowd and her boyfriend was right behind her. "Yeah." He said curtly and resumed his trek.

* * *

><p>The evening breeze blew a gentle flow through her hair, sending smooth dark strands fluttering. Sunlight weakly flickered at the far horizon, spreading its amber hue on a dark, glittering surface. The cries of hundreds of seagulls overlapped each other's, creating a chaotic yet peaceful symphony of the seaside sunset. Just a little to the right, she spotted a blurry crescent quietly waiting for the night to come. Today had flown by so fast, and before this beautiful view of Mother Nature, she felt her self… toppling forward?<p>

She blinked and straightened her back, her heart thumping from understanding that she had been thirty degrees away from a sea dive. _'Note to self, never sit on the side of a wharf half-awake.'_

She sighed, her gazed dropped tiredly to the notebook in her hands, which was littered columns and columns of numbers and … notes. This was the accommodations planning for the students on the school trip, and there was _a lot_. Just by looking at it again made her head ache and her eyes hurt. The handwriting was terrible, terrible. Why were there so many people participating? She knew that two thousand gil was a very ideal price for a trip as nice as this, but still …

Helping Mr- … This would take some getting used to. Helping Night was not all fun and games. No, it was _definitely_ not fun and games. She guessed she should have known, since Night had been forced to ask her for help after all. However, she never expected to there to be so many files and paperwork.

"_Thanks, Rinoa." _He had showed her one of his rare smiles when she had agreed to help him. Like an enchanted fool, she'd followed him to the garage without an iota of worry about what awaited her.

'_You trickster.' _She thought sulkily. She didn't mean to sound resentful, after all, she was the one insisting to help, but she still felt tricked. Soon after she'd hopped into his car, she had been informed of the ridiculous amount of work he had on his shoulders. Apparently, all of the senior teachers had retired and the trip was actually a mean to buy Garden some time before the new batch of teachers arrive. Hence, the school was extremely low on staff, and works that should have been done by _people_, became a one-man job.

It wasn't like she would've run if she had known that before getting on his car. But telling her only after she had agreed to help was just … sly? Maybe that word didn't fit the gentle man that he was, but from time to time she couldn't help feeling that he had a slightly … cunning side to him. Okay, she was thinking too much. Going over all that paperwork had made her head all giddy and weird. It could have been that it hadn't occurred to him to tell her at the time.

She breathed in the salty breeze and let her legs dangle on the side of the wharf. The wind picked up again. Amidst the sound of the moving air, she could hear footsteps. It was nearing night, so there weren't many people left at the harbor. Turning her head to see her teacher approaching, she smiled at him … blankly, and he stopped dead, his neutral expression faltering.

"In the end, it's still too much for just two people." Night said as he knelt down next to her. With a slightly bothered face, he looked at her and brought a hand up to stroke her head, taking the notebook away from her hands. "Sorry for making you help me."

"… N-no, I'm glad to be of help." She hastily answered after a swift moment of delay due to sleepiness.

"Well, this should be enough, I'll do the rest." He must be very tired also, but he didn't show any sign of it. As much as she wanted to help him more, she just couldn't bring herself to say it. A very, very large _and _loud part of her was screaming at her to go to sleep. "Let's get to the hotel." He told her, and she obediently rose up to her feet. Really, she was so tired that she didn't even have the mind to delve into the fact that they were going to a _hotel._

She didn't care anymore. She was sooo sleepy and …

"Rinoa, thanks again. You've been a great help." Night patted her head as they walked, his hand so warm against her forehead.

She trusted him.

Rinoa smiled, feeling heat gathering at her cheeks.

"You're cold," he said, looking at the hand he had used to touch her and then at her. "Like a corpse."

'_C-corpse?' _What an unromantic thing to say in this scenario. It wasn't like she hoped that he would've praised her coldness with flowery wordings that would come out of a Centran novel … Actually, she might have to bring him _and_ herself to a psychiatrist if he had done that, in case they both had gone mad from all the paperwork. Oh well, at least Night was worlds better than Squall … Why did that guy pop up? She frowned a bit and then answered. "I've always been weak against chilly weather."

"Then my hometown is perfect for you." He said, removing his coat.

"Where is your hometown?" She asked with interest as she received his coat, hurriedly putting it on to let his lingering body heat warm up her naked arms and shield her from the cold wind.

"Trabia, Northern regions." Night said and quickened his pace to walk ahead of her.

She stopped for a moment, jaw-dropped, before chasing after him. "Was that supposed to be a joke?" The moment she caught up to him, he turned his head to look at the sinking sun. She couldn't see his face properly, but she thought she thought she saw him smiling. However, when he looked back to her, his neutral expression resumed.

"No." He answered seriously, bringing his hand up to her back to guide her along. "It'll teach you to know your own strength."

"Huh?"

"Don't dress so thinly if you're easily chilled."

"Oh." She nodded understandingly and … secretly smiled. She didn't need him to be romantic, the most important thing was that he … cared.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Whoa, how long has it been? Happy New Year everyone! School is really taking its toll on me, I can't concentrate at all and yes that is a perfectly good excuse. I'm sorry for making those who have been waiting wait for so long, and also for the fact that this chapter is not very good considering the reception that last chapter received. Anyways, since our favorite protagonist is in an ultra bad mood ... Squall, it's kinda hard to talk when you keep pressing Lionheart at my neck.

**Squall: ...**

Uwaa, he's not talking or even _thinking _anything. ... Rinoa? Help?

**Rinoa: Hm? Did I hear someone call my name?**

Hyne, please Rinoa! Don't forsake me, I still have half a year of curriculum to complete!

**Rinoa: ... Fine. Squall, don't be mad any more. Please? *removes Lionheart and pats Squall* I know what I said but you know I don't mean it ... not in this Author's Note at least.**

Damn, there's a cut on my neck!

**Squall: ... *sighs and grabs Rinoa's shoulders* Please promise me nothing will happen.**

**Rinoa: Aw, you're jealous. How cute ... But sorry Squall ... I can't exactly promise that.**

**Squall: *horrified* What?**

**Rinoa: I-I can explain ... er ...**

**Night: Well ... (considering my creator's personality, she seems to like forbidden relationships a lot) so I can't promise anything either.**

**Squall: ... What do you mean by "so"? You'd better not-**

O-KAY, Night also has something he wants to clarify. Night, if you would?

**Night: *scratches head* (to any reader who might've thought I was) I'm not Rinoa's uncle ... We're not related.**

SO! He's completely qualifies as a competitor for our lovely Rinoa's heart. Aaand that's the end of our little corner. Have a nice new year everyone. Good bye.

**Squall: Wait just a-**

Oh, and for the record. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT SELPHIE. *points accusingly*

**Selphie: WHAT! *flabbergasted* I'm actually in this chat?**


	7. Love

Oookay, I took quite a long time completing this. 0_0 I won't blame any of you if you don't remember wtf happened in the latest chapters. I'm really sorry and well, that's life.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter VI: Love …<strong>

The chilly night breath softly caressed her fair skin, brushing long dark locks from her small round face. Air tasted of ocean salt, tiny specks of light from the faraway shore of Balamb, the constant swaying motion of her surroundings and gentle waves that patted the ship's sides in rhythmic monotony. By the open window, she stared out into the serene darkness, pretending to be enthralled by the beautiful view, when in truth, her mind was tangled with empty thoughts about a certain person. A small smile crept up on her face.

"The night's cold," an arm wrapped around her shoulder from behind, pulling her away from the windowsill. She was nearly frozen inside his half-embrace as he bent slightly forward to close the window. Although her back wasn't touching him, the warmth emitting from his body still left her heart fluttering and her face as red as ripen tomatoes. "Be careful or you'll get sick." He patted her head and ... his big hand stayed.

At that moment, something happened that quenched her fluster, something different, something … bold. She didn't quite get it, but she didn't question it either. Her hand became slightly sweaty and she rubbed them together, swallowing. Without turning to him, she kept her gaze strictly forward and whispered through the silence. "But Night's … warm."

There was a short pause, silent seconds that smothered her with regret. Had she maybe went too far?

"… Bad play, Rinoa … Bad play." His soft chuckled sounded like a sigh, and she could feel her shoulder slightly slumped by a little. He patted her twice more and backed away, denying her of his warmth. She relaxed a bit and let out a breath of mixed feelings. She was relieved that nothing had happened, but she was also greatly disappointed. They were alone in a bedroom, and were so close. Was it wrong to hope for more?

"You shouldn't say things like that." His voice was right behind her, and she realized he hadn't walked so much as two steps away from her. "I'll misunderstand."

She didn't really get what was going on, and she didn't question it. She spun around without an ounce of hesitation and grabbed his hand, stopping him from leaving just in time. Their eyes met. He seemed surprised, his gaze dropping down to her small hand, then instantly fixing back onto her face. "Rinoa …" He muttered, his tone was softly scolding her.

"… Misunderstand." She said, inwardly flabbergasted at her audacity.

When the silence began to seem like it would never end, he suddenly wrapped strong fingers around the grip she had on him, making her the one being encased. Her heart had never beaten faster than now. His handsome face, adorned with a shrewd smile, was lowering down to hers. When she thought their noses were going to touch, he just stopped. "I can?" He asked as if needed more confirmation, and she just nodded in reply.

He brought a free hand up to stroke her cheek, whispering as his thumb drew gradual circles on her palm. "I held back, thinking that you were with him, with the Leonhart boy. It's inappropriate but I was very glad to know that you _hate _him."

"Ah, geez. People keep mistaking Squall and me as an item." She said, frowning. "I _hate _him.'

"Are you sure you _hate _him?" The man asked with a smug face. "You two seem close."

"Don't you worry, Night. I _hate _him." She purred, scratching his chin endearingly. "I absolutely won't stop _hating_ him."

She let go of the blond and turned to _him. _She was smiling, but he couldn't see her eyes. With an impish giggle, her lips parted and she chimed sweetly. "That's right, Squall." Everything became darker as her voice began to echo all around him. "I _hate _you. Hate you. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate? Hate you. Hate you? Hate you!" She began shouting, spitting out venomous words of hatred. It was so deafening that …

He snapped open his eyes, his pupils frantically darted around the dark room. He was unconsciously clawing at the pillow as lines of sweat tickled the skin at his neck. With ragged breaths, he slowly let go of the wrinkled pillowslip and wiped his face in utter confusion, trying to separate dream from reality. No, that was a nightmare.

Finally gathering his composure, he pushed off the damp mattress and hugged his head. His heart was too loud. He covered his ears tightly, hoping to block out the repeated thumping, only to make it resound even louder. _'This is getting too damn serious.'_ He glanced up to the digital clock, gritting his teeth at the number it was indicating. It hadn't even been an hour since he closed his eyes. Rinoa Heartilly, why did her hating him bother him so much? He'd told himself he wouldn't think about it anymore, yet now … What _was _that stupid nightmare? He couldn't believe his own imagination could even paint up all that Behemothshit.

But then, considering that girl's obvious fascination with the blond teacher, that dream might just be happening right now. Would she really have the courage to do that? What if she got rejected? Would she cry? Wait, she _should _be rejected. … No, that came out wrong. She might cry. He didn't want to see her cry, but if her feelings were returned … He didn't want to think about it. Why was he even thinking about it? He ran both hands through his hair in aggravation. There was that urge to pace again._ 'Damn it.'_

Squall shot out of bed and strode out of his room, making a sharp turn into the bathroom. He just had to move, because staying still was make him feel powerless.

'_Why won't this heart settle down?'_

Slamming his hand carelessly at the water tap, he scooped up the transparent liquid and splashed it at his face. The cold water woke him up completely and, to his dismay, thoughts involving a certain girl became even clearer. His brows drew together as he looked at himself in the mirror. The eyes staring back at him were turbid, bloodshot. He could have downed a bucket of expired beer and still look better than this. He sighed and turned the water off. His energy from the earlier outburst was quick to deplete, leaving him languorous, and he placed both elbows down on the basin's edge for support.

Squall brought a hand to his forehead, stifling another sigh. He had already stopped questioning everything, he was too tired already. These inexplicable emotions were taking over him, he didn't feel like himself at all, and he didn't even care. She was once again somewhere that he didn't know, alone with a man.

Something was hurting. He clenched his teeth. _'Screw it all.' _Wherever she was, whatever she was doing was of no concern to him. … _'What does she see in that pedophile anyway?'_

* * *

><p>He sneezed.<p>

"Mr. Night, you're not catching a cold are you?" The girl asked worriedly as they entered the dark room. "… Oh, I mean, Night." She hastily corrected herself.

"… I'm not." He answered swiftly, turning the lights on, and sneezed yet again.

"I hope it's not because you lent your coat to me." Rinoa remorsefully said with a slight frown.

"No, it's not that." Night sniffed and rubbed his itchy nose contemplatively. He didn't feel sick, his hometown had long ensured that he had the health to endure at least late autumn wind. This was something entirely different. _'… Someone's bad mouthing me.'_ He narrowed his eyes at the thought. He didn't mind. At least, normally, he wouldn't, but this situation was making him quite cautious. "Rinoa, did you tell anyone about going with me?"

"Um, yeah, I told Selphie." Her voice echoed from inside the bathroom.

"I see." He acknowledged her answer and scratched the back of his head, no doubt feeling dispirited. Selphie … That girl in his class? The one rumored to be the Queen of Gossips? Closing his eyes with a sigh, he proceeded to set the luggage down on a table. He had a bad feeling.

* * *

><p>She was in her bedroom. She had locked the door, closed the window and pulled the curtain down before calling this very special woman for consultation. Everything had to be kept unknown to everyone, even her loveable roommate Quistis … <em>especially <em>Quistis. It was already bad enough that she had to contact the woman, she definitely didn't want to have to deal with the blonde also.

"… What?" She shrieked. Despite having been quite successful in keeping her voice down for secrecy's sake, she couldn't help exclaiming at what she had heard. "Over-thinking?" It was such an absurd reversed psychology that it might just be possible.

"… _told you before. It's __**not**__ simple. You little-" _She yanked the phone away from her face, wincing. The shrieking voice felt like it had skewered both of her earlobes. She waited for the static sounds emitting from the phone's speaker to die down before putting it to her ear again, albeit this time a little further away.

"Save your lecture for later, Scarl. Oh Hyne, do you realize that this is a super-duper-mega-fiasco?" She smacked her palm against her forehead. "Ugh, yes, yes. It's my fault. You didn't have to remind me. What do I do? _What _do I do! How do I fix this? … I can't do _that_. You have _no _idea how scary Squall is when he's mad!" She yelled into the phone, recalling the demon king she had accidentally provoked earlier this evening. However, her outburst was easily shushed by the older woman. Scarlet gently, yet sharply chided her. It made her feel responsible. A guilty conscience began to swell up inside her, and she breathed out in defeat. "Fine … prepare my funeral for me. I want a teddy Carbuncle in my coffin. … Later then. Bye."

Crawling out from under her blanket, she sulkily climbed off the bed and unlocked the door to leave. Just why was she in this kind of situation? Why had she even accepted Scarlet's offer to begin with? Although it sounded like a great idea at the time, it had now become a serious problem.

Quistis came out from the bathroom at the same time, seemingly have just finished brushing her teeth.

"Wow, going to sleep already?" She asked with a bit of surprise. She had long gotten used to her friend's strict routine schedule, but today, Quistis had just broken the record. "It's only nine. Even kids don't sleep this soon nowadays."

Quistis gave a small laugh and crossed her hand. "Well, you were the one who said to be at the gate at six. I want to maintain my eight-hour sleep."

"But wouldn't that be nine hours if you woke up at six?"

"No, I'll wake up at five to check up on things." The girl made a motion to adjust her glasses, only to find that she wasn't wearing any. "Anyways, where are _you _going?" She awkwardly lowered the habitual hand to her side.

"A-ah, I-I want to go see Squall and apologize." She cringed at her own stuttering.

"Oh, I see. Right, I guess we all need to apologize." Quistis sighed, looking at the floor. "We all jumped to conclusion. He didn't even show up for dinner. Think he's hurt?"

The air became slightly heavy with the topic their conversation had steered to, and Selphie felt even guiltier now. Poor Squall. Due to her late reply, the gang had thought that he was bullying her, when in fact, he had done nothing of the sorts. He was only aggravated by Rinoa, or at least by the fact that Rinoa was with Mr. Night. He was mentally unstable and all those things happened to him. _'Uuu, all my fault. Stupid. Stupid.' _She was thankful that Irvine had come to her defense, and that even Seifer had intervene and brought Squall's wrath upon himself for her sake, but really, their concerns were all very untimed.

Then again, all of this wouldn't have happened if she had just said something, _anything. _She snapped out of her thoughts and sang cheerily. "No way! It's Squall. Squall! He won't hold a grudge, nuh-uh, not at all. Trust me." Of course, she herself didn't think so. If the guy were to be able to forgive anyone right now, it would be Rinoa. "You go have your beauty sleep, Quisty." Ushering the taller girl towards her room, she opened the door.

"Er, what? Selphie?" Quistis inquired in confusion, weakly fighting the pushy girl.

"I'll apologize to him first, okay? I caused this after all." She beamed brightly, waving at her friend as she backed away towards the door. "Sleep tight now. We don't want ugly worry lines to appear on that immaculate skin. Buh-bye!"

And she stormed out through the door, leaving a perplexed Quistis behind in the dorm room. Being a girl and all, of course Quistis didn't want ugly worry lines but …

'… _Suspicious.' _She was already worried.

* * *

><p>As he left the bathroom, he was greeted by a round of rapping on the door, and it was very energetic-sounding to add. Grunting, he threw his wet shirt into the basket and grabbed a towel to dry his dripping hair. He was planning to ignore whoever it was and retreat back to his room when the rapping sounded again, this time longer and louder, and there was even a very familiar voice shouting his name.<p>

Squall gritted his teeth in annoyance and strode up to the door. He slammed his hand at the handle, yanking the door opened and glowered at the late night visitor … _visitors._

"Yo!" Zell grinned, showing him a V while being completely oblivious to his bad mood. Next to him was a very pale-looking Selphie, who was fidgeting in place.

The cold night air prickled at his damp skin and he was immediately reminded that he was half-naked in front of a girl … in front of _Selphie_.

He hadn't expected a girl to come looking for him at this hour, so he just opened the door without much care, and now his inner voice was screaming for him to put on a shirt. However … he was too cool for that, his pride didn't allow him to lose his composure, and he was doomed to just stand there and prepare himself for Selphie's reaction. An image of the girl smugly placing her fingers over her curving lips showed up in his mind. _"Ooh, Squall. Nice abs." _Was what she had said a year ago after walking in on him changing. That incident had dealt a massive blow to his introverted side, which had just barely gotten used to socializing with people other than Seifer and his family. He liked his privacy.

"Hi …" To his surprise, she only forced a smile voided of her usual spirit.

He raised an eyebrow at her attitude, but quickly shook off his confusion and grated. "What?"

Awkward silence commenced as he watched his two visitors exchange glances with each other. What was their problem? He really wanted to shut the door and just return to his room. The cold wind had slipped into the hallway again, reminding him to quickly dry his hair before he caught something. As Squall ruffled his hair with the towel in his hand, Zell nudged Selphie forward. "Squall, Selph here has something to say to you."

"Hey!" She complained, but as soon as her eyes met the taller brunette, she froze up. "Er … well, you see …"

He grumbled, not meeting any of their gazes. "What is it? Make it quick and leave. A teacher could see us." He didn't particularly mind the teacher part, his patient was just running thin.

"W-well, I wanted to-" Selphie squeaked.

"Oh, no sweat, dude." Zell waved his hand, shrugging nonchalantly. "Turns out, we don't have an overseer tonight. Night's away, apparently." The moment the blond finished his sentence, he suddenly felt a chill down his back and shuddered. "Oooh, I must have gotten too used to summer's heat."

'_That's not it at all! Zell, you dimwit!' _Selphie cried in her head, shooting daggers at the unwitting boy. Slowly glancing back at her other friend, she could have fled for dear life. Squall's head was slightly lowered. She couldn't see his eyes clearly due to his shaggy mane, but one thing was sure, he was _pissed._ His hand was gripping tighter and tighter at the door handle, threatening to snap it right out of its socket. Hastily, she braved it out. "I wanted to say sorry! You know, for causing a scene earlier."

His dark aura dissipated and he stared at her with a slightly surprised expression.

"Yup, me too! I'm sorry for overacting too." Zell broke in, his happy-go-luckiness remained unchanged. "The gang's all cool now, we all know what really happened. No hard feelings, kay?"

Squall looked at his two friends respectively with a raised brow. He himself wasn't sure of what had happened back in the cafeteria, what were the chances that anyone would understand? What exactly had Selphie told the rest? But then, he couldn't care less right now. He sighed, frowning as he turned away. "That's it?" _'Waste of time.' _He wasn't even bothered by the fact that he was isolated, he _had _beena lone wolf most of his life after all. Instead of thinking about that petty incident, there was something … some_one_ else occupying his mind. "Go back."

Zell was going to open his mouth to stop the sullen brunette, but to his surprise, Selphie had already rushed in to block the closing door. She gripped Squall's arm, shouting. "Wait!"

Breathing deeply to contain his temper, Squall asked with furrowed brows. "Is there something else?"

Selphie felt like smacking herself as she stood under the expecting gazes of the boys. She knew she had to say something lest she ticked Squall off again. She was so sure that she had determination filled to the brim when heading to F wing, yet now … With Zell here, how was she suppose to bring the topic up? "Y-you see, there's …" She let the sentence hang as her mouth stayed parted, working for the right words to say. Air kept leaving through her lips but not a sound came out. "…"Squall's expression shifted for the worse, and she blurted. "N … It's nothing. Haha, just messing with ya. Bye!"

And she darted away.

"E-eh? Selph?" Zell shouted after her. "Wait! I need to escort you … out." She never heard him and simply disappeared around the corner. "Oh, well. I guess she'll be fine." He scratched his head, thinking about the sluggish drunkards he and Selphie had walked by on the way here.

Squall shook his head, utterly fed up. He didn't sign up for any of this. Turning back to his blond friend, he mustered up what little social decency he had left, saying "Good night." And attempted to close the door once more. However, Zell quickly blocked the door, putting a hand to his right shoulder. Startled by the sudden contact, and the fact that Zell was glaring at him, Squall inadvertently froze up.

"Squall." The blond said with a serious gaze, patting his shoulder. The next thing he knew, his head was abruptly pushed to the left as his right ear rang from a loud slap. _'What the …' _Squall staggered backwards, slightly disorientated. He had no idea what had just happened, bringing a hand to his face in utter confusion, but he soon recollected himself and glared back at his friend.

Zell didn't move from his position and continued to look at him.

"What the hell?" Squall growled in a low, dangerous tone, rubbing his stinging cheek with the back of his hand.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" Zell shrugged nonchalantly, and suddenly gave another slap to his other cheek. "Get a grip, dude."

Squall narrowed his eyes, trying to put the whole scenario together while battling the irritation that was burning up his cool. The two slaps were mere bug bites compared to the amount pain he could tolerate as 'friendly fire', but the fact that he had taken them so unreasonably, and so passively, angered him. _Zell, _of all people, had just slapped him, twice, and told him to _get a grip?_ He wasn't the type to just take it and shove it. He'd show the fucker what it meant to _get a grip._

He suddenly thrust his arm at the blond and grabbed his collar, throwing him into the wall next to the threshold. As soon as Zell's back collided with the wall, he immediately closed in and pressed his forearm at Zell's neck and pinned the blond to the vertical surface. Zell tried to wriggle out of the lock, even attempting to punch Squall's stomach, but couldn't find the right position to make an effective strike. In the end, his futility came to a stop, but the stubborn look on his face never changed. It was as if the guy was accusing him.

Squall clicked his tongue. Didn't the guy get it? He completely had the upper hand here. Why was Zell so keen on provoking him? Fine, he asked for it. Squall raised his fist.

"Squall … Dammit." Zell croaked with difficulty as he deflected Squall's punch. "You're acting too extreme. Stop making a fuss about everything that doesn't go right for you! Can't you see that you're only pushing her further away?"

Pushing her away? Something about the phrase struck something inside him. There was a swift delay in his heart's rhythm before it took on a slightly faster pace. His confusion thickened at his inconstant state of mind. Pushing her away? What did it matter? Why did it matter? But …

"_I just … hate him … is all."_

It wasn't that he cared. Her words were just stuck in his head …

Distracted, all of his aggression vaporized and his hold slackened, allowing Zell to break free with a simple shove. Zell was relief to have escaped the disadvantageous position, rubbing his neck. Maybe hitting Squall without anticipating retaliation wasn't very good judgment. However, he felt that his words were getting to Squall, so he continued. "I get that you care for her more than a friend would, but you're doing it all wrong. There's nothing wrong with loving someone, but how you're acting doesn't sit well with me."

Loving someone? Squall's eyes couldn't go any wider that it had now.

"Look, Squall." Zell placed a hand onto his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. "We're your friends, don't distance yourself from us. We're all worried about you. And if you value our times together at all, don't ruin them with your dramas. They're not doing you any favor."

Squall couldn't retort at all. It was a severe blow to his pride that he was being lectured by Zell, whom he had considered a loudmouthed idiot from the very first meeting, but for some reason, that was not his main concern at all. _Creak, creak. _He could feel something cracking inside of him, but he couldn't quite understand what. He pressed his lips together, his gaze fixated on the ground for a while before moving up to regard Zell.

Zell wasn't wrong. He was only going overboard with his dark thoughts when he said he doubted their friendship. It was just him being stubborn, because he didn't like changes. However, he knew he'd changed from the solitary being he'd been since little. He wouldn't have bothered interacting with his friends had he not liked them, had they not been his friends. He just didn't want accept it, didn't want to feel attached. Because it was easy to get left behind. For instance, Rinoa …

He'd tried to convince himself that he was still a lone wolf in order not to dismiss the displeasure he held towards Rinoa's words. However … it wasn't working as well as he had expected. He was still bothered.

"Hey," Zell took notice of the brunette's lethargic expression and softened his tone. "Dude, did you know she shielded for you after what happened back at the cafeteria? You're her friend, don't make it hard for her."

' … _Cafeteria?'_ Squall blinked, tilting his head.

"I won't tell you to give up, but I'm definitely not supporting you." The blond continued wryly. "There's Irvine after all."

"… Irvine?" He repeated unsurely, raising an eyebrow. He was puzzled all over again. What did Irvine have anything to do with this?

"Yeah, even an idiot like me can tell they're crazy about each other. Haha." Zell said laughingly to lighten up the moody air. "Keep your feelings if you want, just don't intimidate Selphie anymore, kay dude?" At Squall's mystified expression, he continued, slapping the brunette's arm. "Come on, no need to act tough! Wipe that cheap look off your face. You're not fooling anyone. I bet your mind was up in the clouds when you saw her just now."

…

Squall snorted, crossing his arms and turning away.

"What the hell! Screw you." Zell fumed, pushing him back. "There's a limit to being a jerk. Just now, you were obviously riled up for a reason. I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"

'_Nail on the head, my foot.' _Squall rolled his eyes. This whole conversation had been about Selphie? Sure, it was nice to know that Selphie had shielded for him, and Zell was less of an idiot than he'd thought, but, overall, this was just pointless and utterly anti-climatic. He felt like a fool for getting so worked up over something like this. "I don't give a damn about that pot of energy." He sighed, picking up the towel he had dropped and headed back inside his room. "Good night."

"Hey, I'm not done." Zell was going to stop him from closing the door again, but he pushed the guy back.

"Back off." He paused and gave his hotheaded friend an annoyed look. Squall didn't want to be resorting to this but, to hell with it. "… I get it." He said with a weary expression that doubtlessly stunned the blond and managed to close the door uneventfully.

Returning to the blessed solitude of his room, he stood with his hand still on the door handle. Time ticked by, so silently that all he could hear was his own breath. Strange, he couldn't seem to think at all. It could have been seconds, minutes, or even more than that, before he could gather himself and focus on the present, with much difficulty though. His mind was somehow murky, divided, ready to wander off the minute he lost concentration.

Slowly, he let go of the handle and straighten his posture, breathing deeply. _'Well, I sure as hell don't get it.' _He ran a hand through his hair and threw the damp towel into the basket in the corner.

He headed back to his bed, laid on his back and stared at the ceiling for a while, before rolling onto his side. According to the digital clock, it was now half past nine. It was quite early compared to his usual sleeping time, but he was in dire need of rest after all, an eight-hour sleep didn't seem enough. He stifled a sigh, massaging the gap between his pricking eyes. He just had to go and expend all that energy in that conversation with Zell. This was too tiring, he was getting sick of being this way. He'd better clear his head.

Love …?

"What a joke." He muttered before closing his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Huff … huff …" She pulled to a stop right in front of the entrance to her dormitory to catch her breath. The small girl bent down and placed her hands onto her knees to find support. She sucked in a breath, patting her chest. She really had done it now. Wiping the slight sweat off her forehead, she fished out her cell phone and dialed the most recent call.<p>

"Hey, Scarlet … What do you mean, am I Selphie or not? Of course I am! … Oh, very nice, Scarlly!" She huffed, rolling her eyes. She couldn't believe the woman had already finished preparing her funeral! It was called a _joke!_ "What!" Apparently, there still lacked a teddy Carbuncle. "No no, I … don't think I can ever bring it up now." There was a period of silence before the woman spoke again, this time calmer than the last. At least no more volume outburst.

"… Okay, I got it. Bye." She disconnected the line and sighed. In the end, Scarlet didn't know her friends, there was no reason for the woman to care anymore than she already had. The woman had told her that whatever may happen, she would have to take responsibility for it by herself. … Now, why did that sound so grave?

She dropped the hand holding the phone to her side and hung her head. "Oh man!"

* * *

><p>The small vehicle gently glided through the grassy plain. There was a silence that allowed him to hear the engine hum in monotony, and the tire squeak on the grainy path. Squall sank into the car seat, sighing soundlessly as thought in fear he would break the peaceful air he so cherished.<p>

He hadn't had enough sleep, at all. Despite his determination to rest last night, he couldn't sleep a blink. The night had been calm and silent; he'd been torpid, obtuse while the thoughts inside his head had been simple and single-track. Yet, they'd formed something heavy and obstinate, some kind of dull torment that had prevented his consciousness from leaving him. He kept thinking about the conversation with Zell, about the ridiculous nightmare, about his unusual behaviors … about Rinoa, about how she'd said she hated him. No questions had popped up anymore, the thoughts had just been there to keep him thinking, keep him awake. Considering how his biological clock could yank him out of sleep so punctually regardless of his condition, like this morning, it was such irony that he couldn't just shut himself down as easily.

Squall grunted in frustration, clenching his jaw. He wanted to scream, to have an outburst of sorts, but could muster no energy to do so. He was reluctant to even lift a single finger right now. Inhibited, he grinded his teeth together and wordlessly glance out through the car window, trying to observe the passing scenery to no avail. The images that hit his bloodshot eyeballs were as meaningless as his effort to rest in the last two days.

"Squall, have you been getting enough sleep? You look horrible." Quistis asked from the back seat, destroying Squall's hope of upholding the quietness. Maybe he shouldn't have sighed at all.

"He's prolly been doing something he shouldn't." Seifer scoffed without any hesitation. "Like ogling girls' pictures." He harvested two jabs in the stomach from Quistis.

"How do you even suggest that?" Selphie frowned. "If it was Irvine then I could believe it."

"And I would take offense." A certain cowboy sourly added.

"What Seifer's implying isn't necessarily true, but it could have been something close to it." Zell said, winking at Squall through the rearview mirror with a smug knowing smile. He just ignored the blond. The few slices of bread he had hastily stuffed into his mouth earlier weren't giving him enough strength to conjure up any form of intimidation.

"I didn't expect you to have anything close to an agreement with Seifer." Irvine remarked with a raised eyebrow. "… By the way," he snaked his arms around Selphie's waist and snuggled her closer to himself. "I don't have any complaints with this position, but … It's kinda cramped, don't you all agree?"

Squall spared a glance into the rearview mirror and absentmindedly acknowledged the lack of space behind him. Seifer, Irvine and Zell were squeezed tightly between the car's doors, with their girlfriends sitting on their laps respectively, and they all looked quite, if not very, uncomfortable.

He hadn't realized at all. He had just simply showed up in front of Garden, nodded blankly at his friends' apologies, looked around until … someone … told him to get into the front seat. Yeah, maybe it wasn't very nice, not paying attention during their mea culpa, but the little session had been short and not very serious at all. Actually, only Quistis had seemed to put some effort in it, the others had had a kind of joky attitude. Was he the only one bothered by the matter?

"Stop wriggling, cowboy. Damn, while we're fucking sandwiched, Squall has the whole seat to himself!" Seifer squirmed in place, finding a more comfortable place to let Quistis's buttocks put pressure on.

"Well, it's not like the seating arrangement can be any different." Selphie sank into Irvine's embrace with a helpless shrug. "I mean, do _you_ want Quistis to sit on Squall's lap?"

"Hell no!" Was the immediate response from the hot-blooded boyfriend. "Who knows where his-" He was slapped by Quistis, who then put a hand over her face in embarrassment. Some things were better left as tacit understandings.

"Sorry, when I bought this car, I never expected to transport so many people all at once." Celeste said apologetically, taking her eyes from the windshield for a moment to check up on the students. "It's only another few more minutes until we reach the harbor, please bear with it, okay?"

"Oh, this is no'ing, Ciel. With a beautiful woman such as yourself in the driver seat, we could go around town for eternity and you still won't here a single word of objection from me." The cowboy answered suavely.

He instantly got pinched by Selphie and hissed out painfully. The perky girl was unrelenting as she quipped. "And who was the one that instigated this conversation? Ciel, you don't have to worry, we're all thankful."

"I don't think it'd be much if we're gonna have to run errands." The spiky blond inputted wryly.

Zell's attitude was a result of Selphie's short briefing before they all got on the car. Apparently, in return for the peace and uncrowdedness, they had become the teacher-only ship's errand-runners. What a lazy bum. He would be lying if he said he wasn't turned off by the idea of running errands, but Squall didn't mind helping the teachers out, as long as he got his peace.

"Zell!" Christine – the pigtailed girl from the library and, surprisingly, Zell's girlfriend – firmly chided him. "Ms. Skyweaver, don't mind him."

"Not at all, Christy. And Zell, I'm sure it won't be as bad as you're imagining." Celeste gave a small smile as she pulled into the car park. "We're here."

The moment the car engine was off, the backseat's doors were practically burst open, followed by Quistis and Christine, who hurriedly climbed off the car with thankful expressions. Their two blond boyfriends also alighted with almost gleeful looks. Only the brunette couple, who had been quite comfortable with one another, and Squall, who had had no discomfort during the ride, were slow to emerge from the car. Everyone stretched their body and cracked their joints, feeling like they've just overcome some sort of ordeals. It was one of those times that they felt so very proud of themselves, for a lack of better words.

As they massaged their stiff muscles, the students dutifully walked around the vehicle to open the trunk and retrieve their backpacks.

"Okay, guys, come here for a bit." Celeste clapped her hands to get their attentions and waited for them to gather. "We'll wait at the harbor for the Garden's staff and help them with things that they might need. Guide them to the ship and show them their rooms … Oh, great, I _knew_ there was something." She slapped her head gently and turned away. Taking out her phone, her thumb halted just above the touchscreen as she seemed to realize something and sighed.

Not being able to follow the situation, the students could only exchange curious looks with each other until the woman brought her gaze back to them. "… I left the accommodation plans back at Garden, so I have to go into town for another copy. I'll need one boy to go with me, just for safety measures."

"I'll go!" Irvine replied with lightning speed and simultaneously got hit by Selphie.

"Zell could do it, right?" The small brunette suggested.

"Well, I don't mind." Zell scratched the back of his head, not looking very sure of himself as Christine mindfully stood closer to him.

"Ah, actually," the blonde teacher smiled awkwardly, pinching her chin. "I said one boy, but I've already decided that it would be Squall. No offense, but he's … the most reliable-looking one out of you boys." Her comment got the other guys all riled up.

"Well, excuse the hell out of me for looking unreliable." Seifer narrowed his eyes in sarcasm. "Such a _dependable_ face he has. Look at him, he can barely keep his eyes open. Heck, he might even be sleeping with his eyes opened again."

The others cringed, glancing cautiously at Squall to see if he had heard the snide remark, and sighed in relief when he showed no sign of acknowledging it. Actually, Squall didn't miss Seifer's sardonic comment, he was just too lazy to have any reaction to it.

"Shut up, Seifer." Quistis nudged him. "Then, what about the rest of us."

"You guys go to the harbor and wait there. If anyone comes, explain the situation to them and help with the luggage. See you there, okay?" Celeste grabbed Squall by the elbow and started pulling him away. "Let's go, Squall."

As they left through the car park's entrance and entered the town, the teacher tapped on his shoulder and smiled apologetically. "You seem tired, Squall. Sorry, okay? I didn't have much of a choice."

He didn't answer. A part of him didn't care, but another, more basic part of his characteristic made him feel used and unappreciated. He admitted that a sleep-deprived person could never be reliable-looking_, _but really, he couldn't say that his male ego wasn't hurt in the least. The woman giggled, slapping his back in encouragement. "Don't worry, you are reliable."

'… _Whatever.'_

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before they stopped in front of a painted wooden door, and Squall still couldn't make out what it was they were here for. Celeste proceeded to push a black button on the wall next to the door, which appeared to be a bell. Was she meeting someone here, he didn't know, but the fact that he was also here unnerved him. Especially when they've just been asked <em>that<em> kind of question.

"_Welcome to the lovely Balamb Hotel. Will you be staying with us? One suite room with our most popular ocean view, I might suggest?" _The receptionist had said politely with a business smile.

That moment, Squall had realized something very, very grave. He had walked into a hotel with his teacher_._ Thankfully, Celeste was quite young for her profession so they hadn't raised any suspicion. However, just why were they inside a hotel if what they needed were accommodation plans?

He was allowed to study in Balamb and away from home on the condition that he stayed a way from trouble. This smelled like trouble, and he wanted to have no part in it. But he couldn't just turn around and walk now, it would be too rude. If he was going to leave, at least he should bring up some reason for his departure.

"… Um, miss, why are we here?" He pushed away his reservation and asked.

"Hm? Um …" The woman stared at him for a moment, tapping at her lips, then tilted her head. "… Oh, yeah. Why did I bring you up here?"

"Huh?" He frowned. If she was trying to be funny, he wasn't impressed.

"You could've … Ach, what's wrong with me today? Never mind that." She waved her arms in the air as if it could chase away her perplexity and pushed the bell again. "You're here now so it doesn't matter anymore."

He looked at her, expecting more of an explanation, but she didn't pay anymore attention to him and their surrounding fell into silence. Celeste folded her arms and sighed in a way that reminded him of Quistis. A weary and upset look was faintly presented on her face. She seemed fidgety, her pupils was darting around, gyrating in the slightest. It would seem she wasn't as calm as she had been making herself out to be.

In any case, according to her words, he was unneeded here. So, he should just go back outside and wait until she finished whatever business she'd come here for.

Just as he was about to turn away, there was a clicking sound, and the door slid open, revealing a tall figure behind it. Upon realizing who it was, Squall's eyes went wide. His homeroom teacher, who he believed to have taken off to Dollet, was standing there with a torpid expression, wearing a wrinkled T-shirt. Two-third of a hotel toothbrush was protruding from his mouth.

Night rubbed one of his eyes, as the other stayed partly opened to acknowledge the visitors. "… Shiel? … Reonhack? Wha ar-"

"I left the plans in my room. Do you have the original copies?" The blonde got right down to business, taking out a different phone from her pocket. "Oh, and, you forgot this." She grabbed the man's wrist and pressed the device into the man's hand almost accusingly.

"…" Night dazed out a few moments, probably haven't fully awaken yet, then moved sideways to let them in.

"Which files?" He asked after washing his face in the bathroom.

Night started rummaging a backpack left on a table in the corner and took out a stack of paper, which he hurriedly handed to Celeste. Not wasting a single second, she surfed through the files as he changed into a new shirt. The woman nimbly picked out the things she needed and gave the rest back to Night when he finished buttoning his shirt. Then, while he was busy arranging the plans and putting them into the backpack, Celeste took the liberty of folding his used clothing neatly. The folded clothes were presented to him the moment he was done with the papers, and he stuffed them into the backpack also.

They were so fast, so in sync Squall could only stare in amazement. Their timing to each other's actions was almost immaculate. It was as if they had a tacit agreement about who would be doing what, and was skillfully anticipating the other's progress to follow up immediately without any lag.

…

He felt useless. Why was he even here? Squall folded his arms and looked away, frowning. Celeste really should have left him standing around in the lobby. If she had, he wouldn't be stuck standing around here and looking like some good-for-nothing ass. "… _wake _… for me." Noticing he was being talked to, Squall turned his attention back to the teachers. Night was putting a pair of clothing onto the foot of the bed as he said "We'll be going down first to check out. Be quick, clear?"

Squall blinked. He hadn't heard the first part. "… Y-yes." He answered in spite of his confusion, and cursed himself right after. What had he agreed to do?

To his surprise, Night's possessions, which had been strewn across the room, were all gone, most likely zipped up inside the backpack. Night had also gotten rid of his bed head, looking as charismatic as usual. The man swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the door together with Celeste without any other word. Reading the atmosphere, and according to Night's words, Squall figured that he wasn't supposed to follow the two. But then, why was he left here?

He took a moment to think. In a way, he felt that he was missing something very important. Apparently, Night had the copies Celeste needed, but didn't have his phone so the woman couldn't contact him. That would explain Celeste's accusing look when she gave back Night's phone. So … why was Night still in Balamb? Wasn't he supposed to be in Dollet for whatever? And if that girl had been with Night then … where was she now.

Night's fractured order from earlier suddenly sparked something in Squall's head and his gaze fell back to the messy bed. At first glance, there wasn't anything noticeably strange about it, but if he looked closely, the thick blanket was moving up and down in the slightest. _'No way.'_

* * *

><p>Rinoa Heartilly had awakened from a few gentle shakes, and when she'd opened her eyes, it was the second worst nightmare of her life staring right back at her. Okay, despite her feelings towards him, it wasn't very nice to call him that. But it really had scared her, waking up to that pair of ashy blue eyes.<p>

'_He saw my sleeping face!' _She cried silently, running her finger along the first column in the list she was given. "Ms. Voltfield," Rinoa paused to look across the paper, then looked back up to the woman and beamed. "You're in room 15, here's your key. Do you need help with anything?"

The dark-skinned teacher didn't smile back, only took the key and nodded. "No, I'll be fine." And she headed up to the ship, pulling a small suitcase along with her.

Rinoa sighed, then turned to glance at a certain boy her age. He was carrying luggage for several teachers at once, wearing his usual sour face. She couldn't believe that the fact she had slept in the same room with Mr. … with Night had been known just like that, by Squall no less. She didn't really get how that affected anything, but it just felt weird, like she'd done something she shouldn't have, and the problem was that she'd done _nothing_. At least, she thought so … _'Ugh, why am I torturing myself like this?' _Rinoa pinched the bridge of her nose. She was just so sensitive every time Squall was involved.

That was it. No more thoughts about him. She should concentrate on her job and then, she'd be able to experience what it was like to be on a ship. Rinoa finished nodding to herself just as the next teacher arrived. "Good morning … R-Raze?" Her smile faded and she frowned at the grinning janitor. "Why are you here?"

"How rude, I'm Garden's staff too." Raze replied, showing her his palm expectantly.

"…" She incredulously surfed through the names on the list to find that there was actually a Raze there, and paled. "Raze … Hecatomb?" Rinoa glanced up from the paper to the janitor who was still waiting patiently for his key.

"That's me. Is there a problem?" He asked smilingly.

"N-no." She managed, picking up a key from the box Ciel had given her. "Room 13. Please ask …" She was going to say a glassed blonde _but … _"… the blond guy with the scar if you can't find your room."

"Cool, see ya up there." Raze took the key from her hand and trotted away.

'… _He's definitely dangerous.'_

* * *

><p>She had slept in the same room at that man. Squall couldn't seem to get the thought out of his mind. A student sleeping in the same room as her teacher, what had they been thinking? Just how irresponsible could that guy be?<p>

He grumbled as he placed a suitcase down on to the table for a teacher whose name he'd forgotten. Then, he quickly excused himself and headed back outside. As soon as he descended to the wharf, his eyes flickered to the right all on its own to spy on a certain slim figure. Even at this distance, he could spot her right away, and could even tell she was smiling radiantly. It ticked him off that she could be so damned carefree while he was like this.

He'd seen it, her sleeping face. Squall wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. It was different. He'd seen her falling asleep in class before, and it hadn't been the same. There'd been something more … relaxed, more vulnerable about her that had left him staring in a daze. To think that man had been able to watch that defenseless side of her all night, and she'd let him. Had Night slept on the couch like a man normally would've? Or had they slept together in that bed? Considering everything, it should've been the former, but still, the mere fact that last night had even taken place was a problem. Squall grinded his teeth while trying to keep his expression subtle. He told himself he shouldn't think too much about this, that it wasn't anything much. Yet, the more he delved into it, the more it seemed like a big deal.

Squall brought a hand to his stomach in hope to suppress the strange churning inside. He suddenly wanted to hit something.

"_Stop kicking up a fuss about everything that doesn't go right for you!"_

He froze, gripping at the front of his shirt. _'There's no way.'_

* * *

><p>Why was this happening? She was looking forward to being on the ship so much, had barely kept her excitement inside since yesterday, yet now.<p>

'_Ugh.' _Rinoabent over the metal railing of the afterdeck, preparing herself for another … projectile … that could come anytime. It would seem her stomach had an aversion to the rocking vessel she was on. So this was seasickness. She'd seen people having it on TV, but she never knew she'd be one of those people. Rinoa breathed out with difficulty, spitting into the blue wavy surface beneath. How unsightly. She should've gone straight to her room, but no, she just had to get all excited and come here. Now, she didn't have the confidence to head back to her room without … spilling … stuff … along the way.

The water-level inside her mouth suddenly rose, it was her cue. Her stomach flattened and her throat worked in backward, to push out a cloddy mixture. The sound she made was disgusting, she felt disgusting. Exactly how long had she been stuck here like this? For how much longer would this keep on? She was glad no one was here to witness this miserable state of her.

"Rinoa?"

She was petrified. That unmistakable voice. Of all people, why did Squall have to come here?

'_Could this day get any worse?' _Suppressing her nausea, she strained to speak loudly while keeping her back to him. "I'm fine!" She winced. That was just like saying the exact opposite!Now he would approach her out of sheer curiosity … Wait, she might be in luck. If it was Squall then maybe he'd just let her be. He never cared after a-

"You don't seem fine to me." His voice said right next to her, making her jump. Before she could even let out a yelp, the ship suddenly felt like it was rocking even more than before, and once more, she fed the last remains of her simple breakfast to the sea.

Squall blinked. "Are you okay?"

"… Nngh … Do I, ugh, look so?" She quipped sourly, not looking at him.

'_Guess not.' _His shoulders dropped, understanding that he'd just produced one very useless question. He felt like an idiot. But what was he supposed to say? What could he say? Rinoa tensed and threw up again. That made Squall focus back on the problem at hand. Rinoa was in discomfort, while he just stood and stared. He could've smacked himself. Why was he standing around like a useless dolt? He should do something … What was something? … How did people usually treat motion sickness? Medicine?

"Could you … leave me alone, please?" Rinoa muttered weakly over her shoulder.

'… _Ow …' _Something hurt. Her tone was neutral, with the knowledge of her hating him, he could begin to feel a certain edginess in the things she said to him. And her request just now was of no difference. Squall stared at her back, taking note of the sweats running down the skin just below her neck. Squall wanted to help her, but he was utterly clueless as to how. He couldn't seem to think of anything.

Rinoa swallowed, completely grossed out by herself. She could still feel Squall's presence a little to the right behind her. Had she been too polite with her request? Did he need her to be more direct to get that he wasn't wanted here? Why hadn't he left? Was it fun for him to be there every time she was in misery? She grumbled, gripping at the railing, and turned her head to look at him, prepared to shoo him away again. However, he was looking intensely at her. She hadn't expected that. It caught her off guard, and she completely forgot all the rude things she was going to say to his face.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he just remained quiet. Even after knowing him for years, Squall Leonhart was still a mysterious existence to her. She could never grasp the things that went on in his head.

Squall felt dejected. She was looking at him with clouded eyes that could be harboring great abhorrence towards him. He guesses she wouldn't want to show her weakness in front of someone she hated. _'Well, I'm not much help standing here anyway.'_

He turned around and left without saying anything in the end. _'Awkward jerk …' _Rinoa frowned in the slightest, then turned back to facing the sea again. Oh Hyne, the wavy surface. The nausea came again, and she was helpless to fight it. She vomited, and there wasn't even anything in her stomach. Rinoa managed to suppress it somewhat and let out a whine like that of her darling Angelo when the dear had cleaned off the chocolate ice cream spilled on the floor. Now she truly understood how much Angelo had suffered that night to be able to produce that kind of sound.

Rinoa felt so miserable right now, not to mention the one who had found her in this miserable state was Squall. Well, it might've been a good thing. What Squall saw might as well never happened. It would never be mentioned again, and wouldn't even last in his memory; like it never existed. Because he never cared about anything.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone running towards her. Great, who was it this time? Had Squall tipped Seifer off about an utterly defenseless girl for bully? Well, at least it shouldn't be Mr. … Night, since the man wouldn't run like that. She didn't want him to see her in this state. Rinoa looked over her shoulder. She would've done a double-take, if she had any energy to do so. It was Squall again, and his breathing was greatly perturbed. Had Squall been _running? _That ultra cool Squall Leonhart? She'd only seen him running several times, and that'd been in PE class.

Wide-eyed, she stared at him as he approached her, her own condition forgotten. He held out his hand, and she noticed that he was holding a bottle of water. _'For … m-me?' _She was reluctant to even think it, let alone believing it. "T-Thanks …?" Rinoa poorly hid her confusion as she received the bottle from him. He then wordlessly slid a small white vial into her other hand.

"… Drink it. It should help." He said curtly, and went to lean against the railing a little away from her spot.

This was … medicine? She gawked at the half-transparent lid of the vial, then at his profile, then back at the vial again. What was going on here? Squall was … being nice? Squall even bothered to bring her this? Was there some kind of plot behind this? Had he lost some bet and the punishment was _be nice to Rinoa? _Yet still … She squeezed the two containers in her hands. _'Guh, don't feel thankful from something like this! Idiot!' _Rinoa glanced at Squall, who was looking at the retreating Balamb harbor."_… nks …_" She whispered.

* * *

><p>She continued to purge air.<p>

Squall looked at her, powerless. The bottle of water and pill container he'd brought now left on the floorboard, useless. It had been fifteen minutes since she'd taken the pills, but it seemed they didn't work. They couldn't have worked, for she had thrown them all back up ten seconds after consumption. Maybe giving her something to drink wasn't the brightest idea when her stomach was expelling everything inside it.

Rinoa looked so pitiful. He wanted to make her feel better right now, was using all of his wits to think, but nothing came up, and he was stuck with just looking at her uselessly again. The only difference from last time was that she wasn't pushing him away anymore; he'd earned his place here.

Looking at the way her head sank between her small shoulders, a certain strange feeling had been building up inside him. And now, there was an overwhelming amount of it. Without really knowing what he was doing, Squall shortened the distance between them and placed a hand onto her nearest shoulder. She flinched from the contact, and so did he, but he didn't let go. What was he doing? This wasn't like himself. But he didn't have the luxury to mull about it. She needed to be comforted in some way, he had to make it better for her somehow. After some hesitant pats, his hand settled in the nook between her shoulder and neck.

The unmistakable warmth of his hand was easing up the tension that Rinoa hadn't noticed was there. It actually felt comfortable, felt … right. She didn't dare steal a glance at him, and he began rubbing her back, making her heart prance. _'My heartbeats.' _She thought frantically, fretting that he would be able to feel them through her back. Even so, she couldn't bring herself to push him away. _'No, that's not it.'_

She was so petite that his splayed hand could span the small gap between her shoulder-blades. If he spread his finger a little further apart, the tips could graze the damp skin just outside of her sleeveless shirt. _'…! What am I thinking?' _Shocked by his own actions, he turned his gaze away, but still keeping his hand on her back as not to startle her.

* * *

><p>"Now that's a lovely scene." She said with her arms crossed, smiling approvingly.<p>

Quistis stood in the slight shadow of an umbrella far away from the two figures by the aft railing. She didn't mean to spy, but when Squall had come running, asking if she had any medicine for motion-sickness, and sprinted away the moment she handed it to him, it'd been too queer not to investigate. She looked at her friends a little more, feeling a kind of warmth surging inside her, and turned to leave, only to bump into someone's chest.

"What are you doing here?" Seifer's voice asked her.

She back-stepped to face him and waved her hand in the direction she'd been watching. "Well, I stumbled upon something very sweet."

Seifer tilted his head to look over her shoulder, and he frowned.

"What is it?" She asked, perplexed as to why her boyfriend was seemingly so objective towards the other two.

He continued to stare at Squall and Rinoa, then spun around. "I just don't like it."

* * *

><p>"… Are you feeling better?" Squall asked, massaging the spine along her neck. Rinoa seemed to have settled down and hadn't been purging empty air anymore.<p>

"Yeah … I guess." She answered shyly. Her mind was in a squall … no pun. Squall was acting out of character: he was … caring. This notion disturbed her greatly. He wasn't supposed to care. Suddenly, his hand stopped moving and left her back. Denied of the warmth she'd gotten used to, her hand shot up to grab his arm. Consequentially, she was now turned slightly towards him, her eyes meeting his. He was surprised, she could tell, and so was she. What exactly had she done? If the floorboard could crack open now, she would happily jump down and hide in there forever.

"N … Don't … stop." Her mouth was moving on its own! Hyne helped her. What was she saying?" "I … might feel sick again."

With that, she hastily turned back to facing the shore of Balamb. It took Squall a moment to fully comprehend what had just happened. Actually, he still hadn't really got it, but he continued rubbing her back anyway. _Thud, thud. _She needed him … for now. But still … He glanced at her, watching her as her eyes followed something from afar. He face was a lot better compared to when he'd found her here. _'Good.'_

'… _?' _Squall found himself smiling. It wasn't much, but he could definitely feel the slightest of tug at the corners of his lips. _Thud, thud. _He placed his free hand to his chest. Something had just shattered in his mind. _'… So that what it was.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>Er, well. Thank you for sticking with this chapter to the end. I swear when I started, there wasn't this many words in my head. What I'm trying to say is, I don't intend to make my chapters this long, but somehow, the events just have to be together like this to make a chapter ...

As we can all see, Squall's attitude is turning for the better and less like a psycho in dire need of anger-management lessons. I guess I never really intended to make him so aggressive, he is a pretty introverted guy after all. Introverts tend to be peaceful unless you provoke them, they can be quite overwhelming (for instance, the relationship between Squall and Seifer says it all). And yes, I do realize the Squall in my story(s) have a tendency to be more coolheaded and colder/harsher/darker/whatever...er than in-game. I'm rambling again. Anyways, you'll be seeing a much more mild-mannered Squall from now on now that something has 'shattered in his mind'.

Bye for now. I'm going to hell. (But I'll be back, I assure.)

Conversation with the characters? Sorry, they're all in bed now, it's pretty late where I'm at.

**Squall: (You're just lazy.)**

**Rinoa: We're not asleep! No one is! Not when you're still up!**

Sure, anything you say.


End file.
